Mass Reality
by JinchuurikiKeyblader117
Summary: After an untimely accident caused my death I woke up on the Citadel...seven years prior to the start of Mass Effect! Now I have to survive in a dangerous universe that I have knowledge of, which can make a difference. But can knowledge of the future really change anything? Rated M due to language and well, there's war. It gets gory.
1. Chapter 1

Well this is my first attempt at a self-insert story, so go easy on me. Actually come to think of it this is my first attempt at a Mass Effect fan fiction. Yikes, that doesn't inspire confidence. Anyways I'd like to thank DelVarO, iNf3ctioNZ, Herr Wozzeck, and DemonFireX for giving me the idea to write this. You should go check out their stories as they are all amazing. Anywho on with the story.

Disclaimer: Mass Effect and all related items and plots belong to Bioware. I own nothing, and do not claim to. The only thing I own is my own character (me).

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Chapter One: Necessary Intro Chapter

May 18, 2013

It's funny how the little instances in life can lead to unimaginable consequences.

For example, if I had taken a few seconds to hang up my keys, I wouldn't have spent five minutes looking for them.

If I hadn't spent five minutes looking for my keys, I wouldn't have been in danger of running late for my date.

If I hadn't been in danger of running late for my date, I wouldn't have been speeding.

If I wouldn't have been speeding, I wouldn't have slid on wet asphalt.

If I hadn't slid on wet asphalt I wouldn't have been hit by an oncoming semi.

The action of not hanging up my keys led to my current situation. Somehow, even after having part of the driver's side door pierce my side, I remained conscious long enough to feel myself slip away. All around me sound had been reduced to white noise, as I watched the blood leak from my side. Without realizing I was moving, I dipped my hand in the blood and wrote out, '_Tell my family I love them.' _

My last thought before I lost consciousness was, 'Wow, that's _really _cheesy.'

XXXXX

May 18, 2176

A loud noise shocks me back to awareness. I groan and try to get comfortable, but whatever I'm lying on is _really _hard. I roll over on my left side when it hits me. Shouldn't my side hurt?

The memory of the accident rushes back to me and I bolt upright, opening my eyes. Unfortunately what I see doesn't calm me down at all. I'm lying in an alleyway but that doesn't bother me. What bothers me is the fact that passing said alleyway are a conglomeration of turians, asari, salarians, and other aliens as well as humans. I take a closer look at my surroundings. The buildings were sleek, and, well, futuristic. Noticing that I feel lighter I take a guess that I'm on the Presidium.

"Oh Jesus fuck. You're telling me those self-insert stories actually had it right?" I mutter to myself incredulously. "Okay then, first things first I guess. I need to find an antique store and sell off some of my things. Without credits I'm getting nowhere fast. Good thing I always have my phone on me...it is on me right?"

After frantically checking my pockets and reassuring myself that I crossed over with everything still in them, I take a deep breath and walk out of the alley. Of course now I realize that everyone is running away from something.

"Where is everyone-""Look out it's gonna crash!" someone screams interrupting me.

Looking up to my right my interrupted question is answered. I see a transport vehicle on fire, and heading for a shop only 150 feet away. On its side was an Alliance symbol and a caution sign that clearly read 'Warning Eezo on board.'

"Oh Jesus fuck, really?" is all I have time to say before the vehicle hits the store. The resulting explosion creates a fireball. I feel an extreme heat, a force hitting my chest, and then everything goes black.

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It's kinda short, but that's chapter one. Please leave a review so I can know what you think. If there's any mistakes let me know so I can fix them.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys, I'm back with another chapter of _Mass Reality_...Hey, you there with the weird look on their face! I know it's a dumb name now get off my back. Anywho, here's the second chapter, enjoy!**

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Chapter Two: Awakening

September 18, 2176

Christopher Huerta Memorial Hospital, Presidium, Citadel

"I...n't...wonder...survived."

Where the hell is that voice coming from? I can't quite make out what it's saying, and there's an annoying constant beeping noise accompanying it.

"...coma...four months...one month...transfer..."

Wait...are they talking about me? That beeping noise is starting to become louder, and there's a strange smell in the air.

"...never seen...this age...such...erful...otic reaction..."

That statement snaps me back to reality. I sit up so fast I make the nurse scream and make the doctor jump back. My eyes dart around the room, taking in my surroundings. The beeping noise turns out to be a cardiogram, and the strange smell, which is sharper now, turns out to be antiseptic. Seeing the other occupants of the room makes me start to freak out. The nurse was an asari and the doctor was a turian. Oh god, it really happened! I died, woke up in the Mass Effect Universe, and almost died again in an explosion...and holy shit I'm glowing blue! Now I really start to lose it and begin hyperventilating...which causes the glow to increase in intensity.

"Sir, please calm down!" yells a flanging voice.

Still freaking out my head snaps towards the sound of the voice, the turian doctor. From the looks of it, the turian was male judging by the crest of horns and his face plates were tattooed with a white pattern.

"Sir, you were in an accident. You've just woken up from a four month long coma," the doctor explains calmly. "Sir, can you remember your name?"

Huh, he's worried about amnesia. I can play that to my advantage. Also the fact that he thinks I'm freaking out because I don't know where I am is...actually scratch that thought. That is worrying, but totally solveable.

"M-my name is Michael. Michael Barnes," I manage to croak out, voice raspy from unuse. "W-where am I and why am I glowing?"

"You're in the coma ward at Huerta Memorial Hospital. As for the glowing, the accident you were caught in was caused by an Alliance shuttle carrying eez," the doctor starts explaining in that flanging voice of his. "You were exposed to a high amount of it. In fact it's a miracle you survived not to mention developing biotics at the age you are. I'd go so far to say that your reaction is one of the more powerful reactions I've ever seen in a human. I can actually only think of one other biotic who stands out as having had a greater potential than you, but we'll get to that later.

"Now, since this a condition present since birth that you were allowed to develop into, on top of the magnitude of the reaction there were some negative side effects. To compensate for the energy used, your body fat was consumed at and incredibly alarming rate. We were able to counteract that by feeding you inravenously, but you lost a considerable amount of weight. We also had to repair several organs due to both damage from the explosion's shockwave and your body trying to consume itself for energy. You'll need training to control your biotics so that the same thing doesn't happen again. Before I get to that do you have any questions?"

I silently mull that over. Biotics powerful enough to only be outshined by one other person, not including Jack. I can't say I was expecting that, but I'll take whatever I can get. I'll need it for later, though the prospect of losing control and rapidly starving myself to death is very non-appealing. So the doctor is right I need training, which probably won't be a problem as the Alliance will be looking to save face and will most likely send someone to train me, as their transport vehicle caused the accident. Maybe I can gain a name for myself and it'll be that much easier to convince Shepard to let me join the team once it's time to stop Saren. Speaking of which, time to play up the amnesia...

"Actually doc, I do have quite a few," I start, trying to sound nervous, which isn't all that hard cause _damn _turians look intimidating. "What's the date, in uh, Earth Standard Time? I can remember things like what I learned in school, but the year and my life before the accident is gone...though I do remember my back feeling different. Now it feels...loose for lack of a better description. What happened to it? And finally who _is_ going to be training me to control my biotics?"

The looks of pity I get from both the doctor and the nurse are annoying, but I don't let it show. With a sigh the asari nurse speaks in a soft, soothing voice. "The current date is September 18, 2176 according to Earth Standard Time. I am sorry to hear about your memory loss, but you did take quite the blow to the head when you were tossed away by the explosion. It pains me to say this, but you may never regain those memories. Even the asari that specialize in psychological trauma were unable to find out more than your name from your mind. The other memories are as you put it, simply not there.

"As for your back, after the explosion you had multiple broken bones throughout your body so we had to preform surgery to reset them. However imagine our surprise when we found what appeared to be 21st century corrective hardware for scholiosis. Whoever your parents are, or were, they must have been extremely poor to not be able to afford any other procedure. We removed the hardware and applied the gene therapy to permanately fix your spinal problems," at this she pauses and giggles. "Also, since the Alliance was paying for everything we fixed your vision too. As for who is going to teach you to control your abilities, she's the Alliance's best biotic, but we'll let her introduce herself."

Huh, they couldn't access my memories? Well I guess that's a good— wait hold up. Her? I don't remember there being any noteable female biotics in the Alliance unless...No. Fucking. Way.

The doctor paged someone into the room, and a couple minutes later the door opened with a woosh. In walked a girl who couldn't possibly be more than a couple of years older than me. She was wearing a tank top with the Alliance symbol emblazoned across the chest and a pair of black jeans, both of which hugged and accentuated her amazing figure. Two emerald eyes, a splash of freckles across her cute nose, and thin lips completed her pretty heart shaped face. But the thing that caught my attention the most, believe it or not was her hair. She wore it down and it went to about the middle of her back. (I actually found myself wondering how it could be so long if she was military.) It framed her face perfectly and a few strands fell in her face which she immediately tried to blow out of the way, only to fail causing her to pout cutely. However all of that was secondary observation, due to the fact that her hair was a firey red. Not that died bright actual red. I mean like a natural red hair color that when it catches the light just right, like now for instance, it looks like fire. Oh boy, seems like this universe is playing on my weakness for redheads.

"Hi! My name's Allyson Shepard!" she exclaims in a bright, cheery tone complete with a beautiful smile. Why hello, that's not Jennifer Hale. She sounds more feminine than the original voice actress...hmm fitting. "I'm gonna train you in using biotics so you don't fry your brain or something."

I know I should say something but damn. I can't help but just stare. Of course after a minute or two she starts rubbing her right arm sheepishly and looks away to the left. Great I creeped her out.

"Umm...are you gonna say anything?" she asks, sounding embarrassed.

And lo and behold my brain stops working, because the words that come out of my mouth are, "By the gods, you're gorgeous."

...Jesus fuck, did I just say that? apparently so, because her eyes snap towards me so fast, I'm surprised it didn't make a noise. Oh geezus, I just want to crawl into a hole and die. Maybe there's a chance she'll forget...though that grin forming tells me otherwise.

"You're never gonna let me live this down, are you?" I ask, already knowing the likely answer.

Shaking her head no, her grin gets even bigger. "I think training you is gonna be fun."

Somehow that doesn't fill me with confidence. What a great birthday.

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**And there you have it folks. The end of chapter two. Please leave review and tell me how I'm doing or inform me of any mistakes I have made so that I may fix them. Oh and don't hate me for changing the voice of femshep...nothing against Jennifer Hale, but her voice doesn't quite fit the...personality of my perceived Shepard, and all her quirks that shall be revealed at a later time. So until next week guys! Bye!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys, it's that time of week again. Yup another installment of _Mass Reality_! I really hope you guys are enjoying this. ****Oh and thank you to In Caverns Dark for my first review! I will take your advise into serious consideration. Anyways on with the show!**

**Disclaimer: Mass Effect and all related items and plots belong to Bioware. I own nothing, and do not claim to. The only thing I own is my own character (me).**

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Chapter Three: The Few, The Proud...

March 21, 2177

...70

Breathing is ragged, sweating profusely, keep going.

...71

Teeth gritted, muscles straining, keep going.

...72

Palms hurt, keep going.

...73

Keep going.

...74

KEEP GOING!

...75

I drop to the ground, feeling like there's a fire burning through my veins and in my lungs. Fuck I hate pull ups.

"Good now we'll take a three minute break, then we'll get to the run," orders a voice to my right.

Wiping the sweat from my forehead I look towards my trainer/torturer. For her innocent and kind demeanor, Allyson Shepard is a surprisingly harsh task master. In the six months that I've known her since waking up from my coma, the beautiful redheaded Hero of Elysium has kicked my ass into shape.

"Ya know, remind me again why I want to be Alliance," I state, shaking my head before taking a long drink from my canteen.

"Cause you wanna serve humanity and help make a place for us in this great galaxy," came her snarky response. "You know, all that sentimental shit. Then again maybe it's cause you wanna see shit blow up. That's why I joined."

"Please, don't give me that crap," I shoot back with smirk. "You joining the Alliance was inevitable, being a military brat. Just cause your parents retired doesn't exclude you from that."

"I'll have you know I was a perfectly well behaved child," she counters, sticking out her tongue.

"Was this before or after you developed the urge to set things on fire?"

This statement just earns me a glare, which is ruined by the pout adorning her face. I start laughing at her which earns me a punch to the shoulder.

"Haha, very funny," she says humorously. "Alright mister comedian, your break is over. Get your pretty little ass up and let's see if you can do the run in the required amount of time now."

Scowling I mutter, "The only one with a pretty little ass around here is you."

"Damn straight I do," she laughs, grinning all the while. "Now double time it instead of staring at my ass."

Fuck she heard me. How good is her hearing? Oh well, nothing to do now but run. At least then the color in my cheeks will be from exhaustion instead of embarrassment.

XXXXXXX

June 24, 2177

Camp Pendleton, CA, Earth

Line up the sights. Compensate for the slight breeze.

Inhale. Exhale. Block out all noise around me.

Pull the trigger.

...

And the bark of a tree behind the target explodes. Shit.

"BARNES! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU AIMING AT?!"

Great there goes my eardrum...again.

"The target, sir!" I yell in reply.

"WELL IT SURE AS HELL DOES NOT LOOK LIKE IT!" my drill Sargent hollers. "YOU'VE BEEN HERE FOR TWO MONTHS ALREADY AND YOU STILL CAN'T SHOOT AN AR WORTH SHIT! ARE YOU TRYING TO DISHONOR THE MARINE CORP CREED?!"

Yeah, you know that Marine Corps creed that starts out something like 'This is my rifle. There are many like it.'? Well they still live and breathe by it. This sucks because a rifleman I am most definitely not.

"YOU HAVE ONE MORE CHANCE TO HIT THAT TARGET OR YOU AND THE REST OF YOUR PLATOON WILL BE RUNNING IN FORMATION!" he pauses, making me dread what was about to come next. "IN FULL COMBAT GEAR!"

...

Damn it, I knew it was gonna be bad.

"Come on Barney!" "Don't fuck up!" "Yeah, don't screw us Barnes!"

Great, nothing quite like positive commentary from your peers. I shift my grip on the Lancer I in my hands. God I thought the accuracy of this thing sucked in the game. Now it's proving to be true in real life...Okay I guess that's not fair. I just suck with the thing. Lining up my sights again, I take a deep breath, slowly exhale, and pull the trigger.

"Ah, man!" "What the hell Barney!" "Man, fuck you Barnes!"

Shit all I did was blow off the leg of the stand holding up the target, causing it to fall to the ground.

"WELL LADIES, IT LOOKS LIKE YOU'RE RUNNING IN FORMATION FOR THE NEXT TWO HOURS! SUIT UP! "

Heading back to the barracks, I hear words of encouragement such as, "You're dead Barnes!" or "Way to fuck up, Barnes!" or the ever popular "Screw you/Go to hell Barnes!" God I love these guys...tonight's gonna suck.

XXXXXXX

Two hours later I and the rest of the platoon manage to drag our asses back to the barracks. I can only hope that with how exhausted we are that means I won't get the shit beat out of me. Then I get shoved to the side. Roughly.

"Outta my way, puta!" Growls a pissed off and very familiar voice.

No. Fucking. Way.

I look to see who it was that shoved me and lo and behold. James Vega is standing in front of me._ James fucking Vega_! One of my favorite characters from the third game is standing before me, and he looks pissed. Okay I can diffuse this situation.

"Fuck off Vega; I'm too tired to deal with anyone's shit right now."

Well that's certain to not help matters.

Unfortunately I'm correct about that cause now he's pinned me to the wall. Shit now I'm off the ground. My ass is grass.

"You wanna repeat that puta?" he hisses in my face. "Cause right now I'm just itchin for a reason to pound the guy that caused us to run in formation for two fucking hours in god damn full combat gear."'

Once upon a time I would've been scared shitless in this situation. Now though? Now I'm tired, annoyed, and just not willing to take this crap.

"What I said, pédé, was I'm too tired to put up with anyone's shit right now. So va te faire et retournez à la pute qui t'a accouchée."

By the confused look on his face I can tell he doesn't speak French so I think I'm safe. Wait nope scratch that. Even though he's confused he probably knows I insulted him in some way, because he's winding up for a punch.

"Barnes, Vega, get your asses in here! There's something going down on ANN! Something about Akuze!"

Oh sweet Jesus saved by the news network.

...

Shit did he just say Akuze?

Vega and I rush inside to see everyone crowded around the vidscreen. We push through to the front so we can see just what the hell is going on.

"Hey shut the hell up you noisy buncha pendejos!" James yells above all the commotion. "Sully toss me the remote so we can hear this damn thing!"

A small object flies across the room into Vega's waiting hand. As soon as he opens said hand a hologram appears from the object. He puts in a command and the volume jumps from church nun whisper to fucking monster truck roar in a couple seconds.

"_JUST MOMENTS AGO WE RECIEVED WORD THAT A MISSION TO AKUZE, WHICH WAS TO REESTABLISH COMMUNICATIONS WITH THE NEW COLONY AFTER IT WENT DARK, HAS GONE HORRIBLY WRONG. LED BY MAJOR LUCAS MATHEW, A UNIT OF FIFTY MARINES TOUCHED DOWN ON THE PLANET FIFTEEN HOURS AGO. UPON ARRIVING AT THE SETTLEMENT THEY FOUND IT INTACT BUT THERE WAS NOT A SOUL IN SIGHT. THE UNIT THEN SET UP CAMP, DECIDING TO INVESTIGATE THE FOLLOWING MORNING. FIVE HOURS AGO THE UNIT WAS ATTACKED IN THERE SLEEP WITHOUT WARNING AND SET UPON BY AN ENTIRE NEST OF HUNGRY THRESHER MAWS. THE FIGHTING WAS FIERCE BUT CAUGHT UNAWARES AND OVERPOWERED ALMOST THE ENTIRE UNIT WAS SLAUGHTERED. ONLY ONE MARINE WAS ABLE TO MAKE IT OUT ALIVE BUT WE'VE YET TO FIND OUT WHO_."

My heart sinks. Oh god Allyson was there. Did my presence here change things enough that she died on Akuze? Fucking A' how the hell is the galaxy going to survive the Reapers without her?

"_WAIT JUST A MOMENT WE'RE RECEIVING NEW INFORMATION. WE NOW HAVE CONFIRMATION ON THE SURVIVING MARINE. IT'S- OH MY GOD IT'S GUNNERY SERGEANT ALLYSON SHEPARD, THE HERO OF ELYISIUM_!"

This causes relief to flood my system. I didn't lose Allyson. I mean we. _We_ didn't lose Allyson. Where the hell did that come from? All the marines are whispering to themselves, and I hear James gasp out "Ay dios mio."

"_WORD IS THAT THE YOUNG HEROINE HAS GONE INTO SHELL SHOCK AND IS BEING BROUGHT BACK TO EARTH FOR TREATMENT AS WE SPEAK. I KNOW I SPEAK FOR ALL OF US HERE AT ANN WHEN I SAY THAT WE WISH YOUNG SHEPARD A SPEEDY RECOVERY. IN OTHER NEWS THE BATARIAN HEGE_-"

The sound cuts out as James hits the power button on the remote. He comes up behind me and puts a hand on my shoulder and for a moment I think he's about to finish what he started outside. Then he speaks.

"Hey cabrón, you okay?" He asks concern in his voice. "I heard you and the Sarge were tight. You takin' this okay?"

I want to lie and say I'm good but my body betrays me. I shake my head and take a shuddering breath.

"No Vega, I won't be good until I know for certain that she's one percent okay. Ever since the accident that led to this-"

I pause a moment flaring my biotics a bit before continuing.

"-she's been there every step of the way helping me. With my biotics, with my amnesia, everything. At least she's coming to Earth. I can visit her when we get outta this hell hole next couple of months."

"Amen to that Amigo!" James agrees with a chuckle. "Hey, we got some free time right now so how about I show you how to shoot that rifle of yours so we don't have to run more than absolutely necessary?"

Sweet he's being friendly with me. "Shit, sounds good to me. Though if Shepard couldn't teach me how to shoot the damn thing I don't see how you could."

XXXXXX

August 15, 2177

14:30 EST (earth standard)

Turns out he could teach me how to shoot the damn thing.

What was the problem you ask? I was closing the wrong eye. I managed to graduate from boot camp at second in my class in all but biotics. There I was first, which wasn't as hard seeing as out of 500 recruits only 43 of us were biotics. The only person to beat me in all other regards was Vega. The man's a beast when it comes to the military. He was meant to be a marine. He's standing next to me as we look up at the crowd that gathered to witness the graduation, listening to the drill sergeant spew some dribble about us being the 'finest group of Marines he'd seen in years.' Suddenly I feel Vega jab me with his elbow and whisper "Hey cabrón, check it out your compañera is here."

I look up into the crowd to see who he's talking about when lo and behold I see someone waving at me from about the fourth row. Well I'll be damned; Allyson made it to my graduation. Wait a second.

"She's not my girlfriend," I hiss quietly, knowing I'm going to regret the hesitation.

"Uhuh sure," he teases still staring straight ahead. "Seeing how long it took you to deny that I'm gonna go ahead and doubt you amigo."

Just as I was about to retaliate-

"PRIVATE FIRST CLASS JAMES VEGA!"

"Hasta luego, amigo."

Damn it...he got the last word. He walks up to the drill sergeant and salutes him. The salute is returned and Vega falls into parade rest. The DI pins something to the right breast of his Alliance dress uniform. James then salutes once more and turns, marching back to formation. He returns with a proud smile in his face.

"PRIVATE FIRST CLASS, MICHAEL BARNES!"

I march up to the DI and come to a halt in front of him. I snap of a salute which he returns.

"At ease solider," he states, pride coloring his voice.

He receives a ribbon from the person next to him. It's small, and has a blue-gold-blue coloring with a symbol for the Systems Alliance in the center of the gold portion. As he pinned it to my uniform he smiled and said, "Good work Marine. Make humanity proud."

I snapped another salute and replied with a crisp, "Yes sir!"

I turn and walk back feeling a big ass grin forming on my face. Nothing could ruin my mood right now.

"Hey cabrón, Shepard went loco when your name was called. Still wanna tell me she's not your compañera?"

Well it appears I stand corrected.

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**And that's chapter three. Wow that one was longer than the last one. Well I hope you guys enjoyed it. Also I do not speak Spanish, so if anyone reading this does, and notices I used words incorrectly, please let me know. As always review, point out mistakes, don't set me on fire, and have a nice week!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Yes, your eyes do not deceive you! Tis another chapter of _Mass Reality! _I hope you guys are enjoying this. Only one of you has said so, but that's besides the point! Go forth and enjoy the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: Mass Effect and all related items and plots belong to Bioware. I own nothing, and do not claim to. The only thing I own is my own character (me).**

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Chapter four: Ruthless

August 15, 2177

16:35 EST

"MARINES, YOU ARE DISMISSED!"

We all filtered out of formation. I lost sight of Allyson so I decided to follow James. The two of us had become pretty tight over the last two months of Boot Camp. He found out about my 'amnesia' and lack of a family so he offered me a place to stay until we get shipped out. I haven't said yes yet, but it's nice to have options.

"Oye sobrino, ven aquí!"

I turn to see the source of the voice and I'm met with the sight of a tall bald gentleman who appears to be in his late forties. His skin was tan and like James he looked big. Huh, being ripped must run in the family. Any ways the man is sporting a goatee and a fiercely proud look on his face.

"Hey cabrón, I told ya you could do it!" exclaimed the man, his voice deep and colored with pride.

Seeing him pull James in for a hug causes a pang of intense sadness and loneliness to rip through my heart. What would my dad say if he were here? Would he be proud of me? Though my insides are in turmoil I manage to keep my composure.

"You must be Michael," the man states, turning his attention to me. "Jamie here's mentioned you quite a bit. Something about being trained by that Shepard gal. The one that saved Elysium right? Damn impressive even if ya couldn't shoot an AR straight at first."

The humor is apparent in his voice so I take no offense. I take the hand offered to me and give it a firm shake.

"Nice to meet you. You must be Emilio," I reply with a grin, ignoring James's protest at being called Jamie. "Yep that's the one. Little spitfire kicked my ass into shape after the accident that caused my amnesia. She's here somewhere, I just lost sight of her."

"Hey amigo, incoming at ten o'clock." James laughs looking behind me.

"Huh?" is really all I have time to say before I'm tacked by a red blur.

"Ha! I knew you could do it," exclaims the familiar cheerful voice of Allyson Shepard. "Though your awareness of your surroundings could use some work."

Picking my head up off the ground I glare up at the petite redhead now sitting on my chest looking quite proud of herself.

"Allie, I missed you and all, but could you kindly GET THE HELL OFF!" I state calmly finishing with a yell.

She hops up with a giggle and reached down to help me up. Once I'm standing she looks up at me mouth hanging open comically.

"Jesus what did they feed you? You got taaalll."

It was true. When I got to this universe I was only 5'7". Then, over the past four months, I shot up suddenly to 6'3," towering over her 5'6". Though she was short, she could still kick anyone's ass, so it did not take away from her badassness at _all._ On a side note, the increase in height was awesome 'cause I thought I was done growing. Though the growing pains did suck quite a bit...yeah.

"Meh, I didn't really notice," I reply nonchalantly, shrugging my shoulders.

"Hey don't you Air Force salute me mister," she scowls. "I can still kick your ass from here to the Citadel. Now are ya gonna introduce me or what?"

Chuckling as I shake my head I turn to the two men watching in humor.

"Allie meet James Vega and his uncle Emilio Vega. Gentleman meet Gunnery Sergeant Allyson Shepard, Hero of Elysium."

This gets me a rough elbow to the side courtesy of Allyson.

"Ya know that last part isn't always necessary," she says with a grin before it drops off and she quietly adds, "and it's 2nd Lieutenant now."

In her eyes I see a glint of intense...well I really can't really describe it but it made my heart clench. She needed help. I could only hope she finds it.

"That's...great Allie," I say with a grin that I know doesn't reach my eyes.

"It's damn impressive is what it is chica!" Emilio booms, laughter filling the air. "It's an honor to meet you ma'am, that was damn good work you did on Elysium."

This cause a light blush to dust her cheeks as she shakes his hand. I can't help but think it makes her look extremely cute.

Wait no, bad mind. It wouldn't work out anyways. Not only is there the fraternization regulations I have to follow now, but she's Shepard! She's already considered a hero, not to mention what she will do in the future. Why would she choose someone like me?

James nudges me with his elbow and whispers, " You got it bad for her, huh amigo?"

Not taking my eyes off of her as she talks about Elysium, I just sigh and nod.

"Yeah, James I do. Can't do much about it with the regs though. Besides why would someone like here even think of me in that way. She could literally have anyone she wanted. She's a hero. I'm just starting out in the Alliance."

He just chuckles I see him shake his head out of the corner of my eye.

"You got a point on the regs amigo," he agrees quietly. "But on the rest of it? Well you didn't see the way she was looking at you when you received that ribbon. She's got it just as bad for you as you do for her. Just don't give up on it. You won't be in the Alliance forever."

He had a point. Eventually she'll be a Spectre, and be outside Alliance and Council laws. I just hope he's right that she feels the same way.

XXXXX

21:15 EST

After the ceremony we went out to celebrate. After eating at a restaurant called Beyond the Stars, which served cuisine from the different races (levo amino based of course), we went out for drinks. Well James and Emilio drank, Allyson and I just sipped on ours. By the time eight-thirty rolled around the two of them were sloshed so Allie and I helped them get home. We then went back to the apartment she had nearby. The same one I'd lived in for the seven months I'd been trained before going to basic. It hadn't changed much, which wasn't surprising seeing as she was hardly ever there. The living room was furnished with the basics, a couch, a loveseat, some end tables, and some lamps. Nothing really special. At least on the inside. She had a balcony with a perfect view of the city. Let me tell you, the view at night was spectacular. That's where we were at the moment in fact. I was telling her about basic.

"...so I got ticked and Threw Andrews across the room and straight into the pool. We all got worried that he was injured when the bastard pops up and goes 'That was awesome! Let's do it again!'"

This sends her into a fit of giggles that lasts for close to 15 seconds. When she calms down she takes a deep breath trying not to laugh any more.

"Oh god sorry. That just sounds like something that happened when I was at basic. Only I sent someone skipping across a lake."

This gets me laughing which in turn sets her off again and we just keep going for like four minutes. Every time one of us would start to calm down we'd look at the other person and start laughing again.

When we manage to calm down she takes another deep breath and then the look on her face shifts from carefree to serious. This causes me to sit up straighter.

"Is something wrong Allie?" I ask cautiously.

"No but there was another reason I came to see your graduation," she replies, tone indicating how serious the topic is. "What I'm about to tell you is top secret. The only reason I'm telling you is because I picked you specifically to join me in this. Your biotics are powerful. They'll come in handy for what we'll be doing."

She pauses to collect her thoughts, takes another deep breath, and continues.

"The Alliance is preparing to start a campaign to rid the Skillian Verge of Batarian slavers and other criminals. I put your name forth to the brass because of your biotic potential. You'd be under my command along with a group of other men handpicked by Admiral Hackett. You'll be the only rookie in the team. Think you're up for it?"

Hmm if I remember right, this is the campaign that ends with Torfan. Would be a good time to prove myself to be good enough to get picked for the Normandy's crew.

"I say oorah, ma'am," I reply with a grin, snapping off a salute. "Let's chase those four-eyed freaks outta our space!"

XXXXX

Saturday, November 21, 2178

Over the next 15 months Allyson and I were sent on operation after operation to clear out caches of Batarians hiding out within the Verge. Out of all the units participating ours had the highest number of successful missions. Of course I contributed all our successes to Allyson, but apparently I was starting to gain recognition. In fact I went from faceless rookie to having my name become synonymous with Shepard as I rose through the ranks. It's still weird to hear my name spoken the same way as hers. I mean, I didn't try to stand out. I just tried my damnest to make sure everyone on the team made it out alive. I specialized in creating biotic dome barriers. I based it kinda off of the spell reflect from Kingdom Hearts. Once the order came to drop it I sent it surging forward where it broke apart into smaller blasts. I also became quite the sniper, though to my annoyance Shepard is still better than me. A fact that constantly reminds me about. The woman's a damn kill-steal. I managed to get the biotic charge ability down a month before Torfan...which lead to the situation we're in now as part of the forward assault team.

XXXXX

Underground Slaver Bunker, Torfan

"How the hell did we get in this situation!?" hollers a Marine to my right.

"Fuck if I know! Intel dropped the ball as far as I can tell!" I scream, trying to be heard above the roar of gunfire and explosions.

"Barnes, Hernandez, cut the chatter ladies and keep firing!" roared Shepard.

"Yes ma'am!" we both shout.

Now one might ask why we weren't speaking through the comms in our helmets instead of shouting above the din of gunfire. Well funnily enough we tried that first. Turns out as soon as we entered the underground bunker they were jammed. Ain't life a bitch sometimes?

I pull a grenade off of the magnetic clip on my Mk IV Hydra medium armor and lob it over the concrete barrier we're using as cover.

"Grenade out!" I yell.

My declaration is followed three seconds later by an explosion and the screams of those unfortunate enough not to die in the initial blast.

"Nice throw Chief!" I hear a marine with a thick Russian accent say. "Took out a nice sized group of those bastards."

"While I appreciate the compliment, Corporal Azarov, you need to focus on taking out some of these snub-faces yourself!" I shout back.

I zone out his reply as I shoulder my sniper rifle.

"Shepard! Float 'n Sting!"

Her only reply is to flare her biotic barrier before standing up and shooting a Pull towards where the enemy was bunkered down. Just as her barrier was about to give I flare mine. She ducked into cover and I stood up. In the air four Batarians screamed as they floated aimlessly, trapped in fields of dark energy. I lined up my sights and got off two shots before my gun overheated. Two of the four had their heads explode as a result. For the last two I reached out and Slammed them into the ground with 600 newtons of force. Head first. Needless to say they died. This took about five seconds. Suddenly I'm grabbed by the waist of my armor and pulled roughly down onto my ass.

"Don't stand there appreciating your handy work!" Allyson hisses at me. "Your personal barrier needs more work before it can stand up to that much continuous fire!"

That's when I notice that my barrier was gone and my shields were down to 10%. Guess I forgot the fact that we're grossly outnumbered.

"Hehe oops, sorry Allie." I chuckle with a shrug.

This is not the right answer, cause now she looks pissed. However before she can say anything we hear a shout of, "Oh shit! RPGs!"

Instantly she's back in leader mode. "Barnes! Dome up! Now!"

I'm up in an instant with my hands spread out before me. A split second later a purple dome of dark energy snaps into existence. Three seconds later four or five rockets slam into my dome. I hold it for another five seconds to ensure there's no more rockets before collapsing to the ground letting it drop. The medic is next to me in seconds with a biotic replenishment drink.

"Here you go sir. Drink up," he says, voice traced with awe. "I never realized how strong that dome of yours was. That was damn impressive."

Chugging the energy drink, I wince at the taste but feel the effects almost immediately. Damn thing tastes like shit.

"Thanks Ramirez. How're we doing? Any casualties yet?" I ask concerned about our men.

When we discovered the slavers' headquarters on Torfan, we thought that bringing in the fleet would help us win the battle. It turned out though that the headquarters were actually underground bunkers. Shepard, with me as second in command, picked out a team to storm the main base. We were almost to the heart of the base when we got pinned down. Apparently most of the forces had gathered there in an attempt to take us out. So far it wasn't working but they had the advantage. It was only a matter of time.

"We have four casualties. Chandez and Serano were both taken out by head shots. Ericsson took a hammerhead round to the throat. Wasn't much I could do there. Tohbias, well, an explosive round caught him in the chest. Blew away the left side. Other than those four we're doing good."

I shake my head at this. All four were good soldiers, and Serano had two children waiting for her at home. That conversation was gonna be hard.

"Keep up the good work doc, but keep your head down. We don't need the one patching us up to wind up with a hole in his head."

With this I head back over to Shepard to see what how the situation is.

"Nice of you to join us Barnes," Shepard says with a smirk on her face. "While you were gone I took out a good bunch of the four-eyes. You and the doc have a nice talk?"

"Yeah we did. I was asking him if there's a cure for arrogance," I quip, nudging her slightly with my elbow. "He said there wasn't. Sorry Allie, guess its terminal."

"Well that sucks," she replies, before shooting me a goofy grin. "I'm gonna really miss having you around. What kinda flowers do you want at your funeral?"

Well I didn't expect that. I just look at her with my mouth open like an idiot trying, but failing, to think of something to say. She just pats me on the shoulder before speaking up again.

"Didn't mean to break you there Barney. Listen, the enemy is finally weakening. We're gonna make a push forward. I need one of your specialty shields. When I give the word send it forward and we'll move up."

This gets my head back into it. I nod and get ready for the order. For a few tense moments the only sound around us is the sound of bullets flying through the air and impacting against our cover. Then...

"Raise it!" shouts Shepard.

My hands snap out in front of me and up goes the dome. This one larger than the last one but not meant to defend against rockets. Bullets continue to ping off of it until...

"Surge it!" she hollers her second order.

I clap my hands together in front of me and the dome turns into a curved wall of dark energy before hurtling forward. Once it gets about halfway to the Batarian encampment I spread my fingers and the wall of energy spreads a part into dozens of separate energy blasts. I hear the doc holler at me to catch something and reach back to snag another replenishing drink out of the air and chug it in one motion. It's then that Shepard gives the all forward sign.

"Everybody move up!" she screams.

As one we vault over the bullet riddled concrete barrier and start storming through the wide open garage to get to the next area of cover. Almost at that exact moment the barrage of biotic blasts reaches the Batarians' position and impacts with tremendous force. Stunned by the attack, enemy fire cuts off almost immediately. We almost reach the next grouping of cover when the air fills with the crack of sniper round being fired. I hear a grunt of pain and look to see who it is. What I see fills me with terror. To my eyes it seems to happen in slow motion, but I watch as Allyson Shepard falls back with blood coming from a bullet wound to the chest. The next second her vitals flatline.

"NO!" screams a voice that sounds delirious with grief and rage. I only found out later that it was me.

Next, as cliché as it sounds, my vision goes red. Rage flooding my veins, coupled with adrenaline, I surge forward faster than before, dropping my sniper, and opting to vault straight over the cover in front of me. Now the enemy is regrouping and I can hear their leader shouting orders, which my translator picks up as them shouting for me to be taken out. As I'm running my biotics are quickly charging up. Then I'm engulfed in a blaze of biotics. It explodes and suddenly I'm no longer standing there.

I explode forward in a biotic charge, suddenly appearing in front of a group of Batarians. The initial biotic explosion throws them all out away from me. Reflexes enhanced by the dark energy coursing through my nervous system I quickly snatch the one directly in front of me out of the air by the collar of his armor. I tug him towards me as I simultaneously charge my fist with biotic power. My fist meets his face causing his head explode gruesomely into a mess of blood, bone, and brain matter splattering my armor with all three. I Throw his body to my left into one of his comrades who's head is flattened by the corpse which impacts with close to 2000 newtons of force.

I take off in another biotic charge and appear before another Batarian. This time I don't cause an explosion as I come out, but this time I appear with my shotgun out. Since its not moving fast enough, barrel doesn't register to his shields thus bypassing them. One pull of the trigger and his head also explodes in a gory display, splattering my armor a little yet again. I repeat my actions with the body. Not bothering to see what happens I take off yet again with another Charge.

This time I appear in front of two Batarians. They drop their weapons in surrender but I take no notice. My left hand clenches into a fist as my right hand grips the handle of the combat knife attached magnetically to my chest. I rip the knife free of its sheath just as my Omni-tool flash fabricates an orange transparent blade. I lunge forward with both and plunge one into each Batarians throat before ripping them out sideways in a spray of arterial blood that dirties my armor further.

Leaving them to choke on their own blood I charge, yet again, over a large group of enemies, some of whom had tried to surrender again. Somehow managing to keep myself afloat I focus an immense amount of biotics into my hands, which are held out in front of me, pointed down. When it almost gets to be too much I unleash it all in one blast. The resulting explosion killed all below me. I didn't understand until years later that I had just become the first human biotic to perform a biotic Flare.

I manger another Charge landing in the middle of a group of enemies. After the biotic explosion everything became a blur of blood and screaming.

Next thing I know I'm standing in the center of the underground headquarters surrounded by dead batarians, both young and old holding the leader by his throat which was crushed. Blood caked my armor and my muscles were screaming in agony from over use. The leader had not yet died yet so I brought him close to me.

"That was for Shepard you _bosh'tet_." I hissed in his face.

When the light finally left his eyes my arm gave out and I dropped his now dead body. Then I became aware if an intense burning sensation coming from the base of my skull. With the hand that was still working I quickly reached up a grasped the amp and tugged it out of the port. I hissed in intense pain and dropped the amp. The little sucker was so hot it burned me. Suddenly my vision went funny and I felt myself tip over. As the ground rushed up to meet me I thought I heard Allyson call my name.

* * *

**YAY! End of chapter four! What you say? I'm not crazy enough to kill of Shepard in Mass Effect? Hmm...Am I? You'll have to come back next week to find out! Hahahaha! Anyways as always review, point out mistakes, do _not _throw sharp objects at me, and have a nice week!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello there my minions, I-I mean readers! Welcome back to another chapter of _Mass Reality_! Thank you to all of you who reviewed last chapter. It means a lot to me to hear that you guys like the story. Anyways, go forth and read!**

**Disclaimer: Mass Effect and all related items and plots belong to Bioware. I own nothing, and do not claim to. The only thing I own is my own character (me).**

* * *

Chapter Five: So it Begins

March 11, 2183

Arcturus Station

"Well what about Shepard?" A smooth voice asks. "She grew up in the colonies. Her family was killed when slavers hit Mindoir."

"Udina's right. She knows how hard life can be out there," states a second voice. "

"She proved herself in the Blitz," adds yet another voice. "held off enemy forces until reinforcements arrived."

"She's the only reason Elysium is still standing," interjects the second voice.

"We can't question her courage, that much is true," concedes Udina. "However let's not forget what happened to her on Akuze, Anderson. Seeing your whole unit wiped out before you leaves quite a scar on one's mind."

The man identified as Anderson nods his head.

"What do you think Admiral Hackett, sir?" he inquires, addressing the third man.

"It's true that it may have left its mark on her, but Shepard's a survivor. Definitely the type of person we want protecting the galaxy," Hackett says, before a thought occurs to him. "However, if we put her name forward then we might as well but Barnes in too."

"_The Butcher of Torfan_!?" Udina asks sounding appalled. "Absolutely not!"

"I agree with the Admiral," Anderson states putting in his two cents. "Humanity hasn't seen such an effective tag team in years. The Marines even jokingly call them Skywalker and Kenobi because of their exemplary biotic skills. Both are N7, top of their class. In fact they'd be the same rank by now if Barnes hadn't turned down the promotion."

"They're the best Humanity has to offer," Hackett states with finality.

"Yes, yes you're right," Udina sighs begrudgingly. "I'll make the call."

XXXXX

As the knife plunges in to my enemy's heart I see the terror in his eyes and the confusion as to why I killed him after he surrendered.  
Then I'm standing over a different Batarian who's on his knees. His pleading to me to spare his life as my bioticlly charged foot crashes through his skull.  
Then I'm in front of the leader who has Allyson by her hair. He grins triumphantly as he thrusts a knife through her temple killing her.

XXXXX

April 11, 2183

2:50 PM EST

"No!" I scream shooting up right.

It takes a moment for me to realize that it was just a bad dream. Allyson really did survive Torfan.

Flashback

_Tuesday, December 1, 2178_

_Med bay, SSV Agincourt_

_My eyes flutter open slowly and a dull ache emits from my whole body. As I lay there I register the fact that I must be in a hospital because I smell antiseptic. Suddenly the memories if what I did on Torfan come flooding back and I feel sick. Then I remember what happened to Allyson. I feel the world start to slip from beneath me._

_"Oh god, Allie," I croak, my weak voice full of sadness._

_"You're awake!"_

_What the fuck?_

_My head snaps towards the voice. The sight I see is so wonderful that I have to ask the question now burning in my mind._

_"Allyson? Am I dead?"_

_"No, no you aren't. But if you ever do that again I will fucking kill you myself!" she screams, voice laced with concern and pain. "I lost my friends and my family on Mindoir, and my whole unit on Akuze. Don't make me go through that again. I...I can't lose you too. It would devastate me."_

_Now normally I would write that off as her being emotional, but by the blush creeping into her cheeks I can see she knows what she said. The fact that she's not correcting her wording is interesting. Looks like Vega was right. Anyways there are more pressing matters right now._

_"But how?" I ask in slight shock. "I saw your vitals flatline."_

_"The round that hit me was essentially an overcharged proton round. It fried the systems of the suit causing them shut off. Hence the flat lining," she explained, blush starting to recede._

_At her words something clicks in my head. She was alive. That meant...oh god what have I done?_

_I feel the color drain from my face. I quickly lean over the side of the bed, opposite from Allie if course, and empty my stomach onto the floor. Or try to anyways. All that comes up is bile._

_"Oh my god!" Allie cries in alarm. "Are you okay? Should I get the doctor?"_

_Her frantic concern causes me to chuckle. It was touching to see how much she cared. I hadn't experienced it since arriving in this universe._

_"No I'm good Shep," I sigh, wiping my mouth off with the back of my hand. "I...just remembered what I did on Torfan."_

_The concern in her eyes deepens, and she steps closer and wraps her arms around me._

_"I saw," she whispers gently. "The medic said you went into some kind of blood rage. Coupled with the heat your amp was generating you were delirious. It wasn't your fault. You hear me? It wasn't your fault."_

_It was then that I felt something wet land on my head. She was crying._

_"Allie?" I mutter._

_She doesn't seem to hear me though. She just keeps crying, and then she speaks again._

_"Don't ever do that to me again. I need you."_

_And there it was. I now had proof she felt the same way as me. I hated myself for what I was about to do, but she didn't need this distraction. _

"_Allie," I start with a sigh only for her to interrupt me._

_"Please just don't," she sighs, tone full of resignation. "I know we can't. Not with the way the regs are. Maybe someday but for now can we still be friends? Even knowing how I feel?"_

_"I think I do that," I chuckle, thankful I wasn't the one to say it. "Just one more thing."_

_With this I pull her down to me eliciting an 'eep' from her. Then I bring her forward and kiss her softly. After pulling back I see the confused, if pleased, expression on her face._

_"Call it...a promise for the future," I state with a smirk._

_Shaking her head to head to clear her head she replies with a smirk of her own, "If I have more of _that_ to look forward to then I think I can wait as long as it takes. Just don't wait too long to do that again."_

_With that she got up and sauntered out of the room swaying her hips._

_"Oh boy," I whisper to myself. "I'm in for a long five years."_

Flashback End

Boy was I right.

Ten minutes after the little spitfire left my room Admiral Steven Hackett himself walked into my room. He shook my hand and told me that 'I did good work, marine,' and that my "actions" were not being held against me as not only did they ensure the rest of my team made it, but they caused enough chaos across enemy communications that the entire mission was a success. I received my officer's commission that day too, though I was forced to sit through a couple months of therapy as they "helped" me get through what had happened. Years of fooling therapists into thinking I was okay in my old universe helped me get out relatively quickly. However, my supposed apathy towards the whole thing earned me a nickname I didn't quite like. Though the biggest surprise of all had to be the fact that I received an offer to join the N program.

Yeah that's right they wanted me in the Special Forces.

Now I know that the game said the N program was difficult, but damn was that the biggest understatement ever! The training was damn brutal. There were times when I felt like giving up, but Allyson was there to help me through everything. (Apparently she received an offer to join the N program too, after Torfan.) It was vice versa too. She went through her fair share of rough patches also. Speaking of her ever since the med bay incident, she's become very flirty. She's doing her very best to drive me off the deep end I believe. She almost has several times over the last five years, though all it usually takes to get her to stop for a while is a subtle reminder of the regulations on fraternization. We still aren't together, though I've heard rumors of a betting pool on when I'm going to say 'screw the regs' and ask her out anyway.

Whoever said 2183 is gonna be a rich bastard.

Anyway I'm off track. So the N training program. Took four years to complete but it was worth it. It basically took one look at me, said 'Nope, this won't do,' tore me down, and rebuilt me from scratch. I was in great condition. As for the program itself, well I can't actually say anything about it because it's all classified beyond belief. I can say that they put us into teams. It's actually where Allie and I picked up our nicknames. Skywalker and Kenobi. I know, I know don't laugh. A marine called us that because he was a huge fan of 21st century movies, and the Star Wars franchise was his favorite. Something about us being almost like Jedi with our biotics, but I digress. Unfortunately the name stuck. She was Kenobi cause she out ranked me, and I got Skywalker by default. Of course I had to give her grief because my nickname came first. Then she remained me not only did she out rank me but she could still kick my ass from here to the other side of the galaxy.

That's another thing. In the years since Torfan I managed to make Staff Lieutenant, same rank as Alenko in the game. I was offered a promotion not too long ago, but I turned it down. I'm not anywhere near as good a leader as Shepard.

The sound of my Omni-tool going off shakes me from my thoughts. Hmm looks like I have a message.

_From: Allie_

_Subject: WAKE UP!_

_Hey lazy ass get out of bed or I'm coming down there to get you._

_Sincerely, Allyson._

I hit the reply button on the device and write up a quick letter.

_To: Allie_

_Re: WAKE UP!_

_Screw off Allie, I'm tired._

I hit the send button, turn over, and fall asleep.

"...key...up...wake up...MIKEY GET YOUR LAZY ASS UP!"

This scream is quickly followed by me being flung from my bed bioticlly.

"The fuck Allie!?" I scream. "I just laid down for a nap!"

I didn't think she'd actually come and wake me. Ugh my bed is definitely more comfortable than the cold, hard, metal floor I'm currently on.

"Ah come on, Mikey," the redhead snickers teasingly. "How can you sleep at a time like this? We're almost to the Mass Relay!"

With that she drags me into the hall toward the elevator. Whoa wait I forgot something. Gotta stall.

"Allie why's your hair messy?" I ask quickly.

She lets go of me and her hands shoot up to her hair.

"Hey, my hair isn't-"

Before she finishes her sentence I reach over and ruffle up her hair so it's sticking up everywhere.

"Now it is," I say smirking.

"Oh you did not just do that!" she exclaims hotly.

As she attempts to put her hair in ponytail, I rush back to my room and grabbed a package from my footlocker. Now I had been saving up for this for the past two years. Mainly because it's so expensive, but I knew that with the Saren ordeal coming up I knew it would come in handy. Besides what do you get for a woman who dislikes jewelry and has pretty much everything else? You get her something practical.

...

I move quickly to the right, and see Allyson go flying by.

"Whatcha got there?" She asks, curiously, popping up off the floor.

Smirking I quickly hide the box behind my back and start walking backwards, back into the hall and slowly move towards the elevator.

"I don't know what you're talking about Red," I snicker.

"Oh breaking out that nickname are we?" she laughs, grinning all the while. "Now I really want to know what it is!"

I realize too late that I reached the elevator and my back hits the wall. Allyson steps inside, hitting the button without looking, and steps in closer.

"Can I please see what it is?" she says softly, batting her eyelashes. "It is my birthday after all."

"Flirting will get you nowhere," I reply, even though my heart race is steadily increasing.

"That just means I'm not trying hard enough," she states slyly, running a finger down my chest.

Gulping quietly I decide it's time to give in before she gets really flirty.

"Okay, okay I give," I sigh dramatically. "Here you go. Happy Birthday."

She backs up smirking triumphantly. I hand her the small package, which she grabs eagerly. She starts eyeing it trying to figure out what it is. Then her eyes narrow suspiciously.

"This better not be jewelry or I'll beat you through the hull and into next week," she asserts warningly.

"Just open it," I laugh, shaking my head.

She does so with fervor, tearing into the wrapping paper. When she sees the symbol on the box she lets out a sharp gasp.

"Oh my god! You didn't!" she squeals delightedly.

"Open it," I repeat, smirking.

She slowly opens the box and her eyes light up at what she sees.

"Is this...but how...I thought the Savant X bio-amp wasn't on the market yet, let alone available to the general public. How the hell did you manage to get one?" she questions voice full of wonder.

"Let's just say I owe a lot of people some favors, and that I spent a lot of money," I state, enjoying the whole scene.

"I'm gonna put it in," she claims excitedly. "Could you, um, look away?"

I roll my eyes, but do what she asks. Of all the biotics I've ever met, she's the only one who's self-conscious about changing amps in front of others. I hear the soft click of an amp being removed before another one follows as she puts in the new one. I turn back around as she places the old one in the box. Next thing I know she's flung her arms around my neck muttering 'thank you' over and over again...just as the elevator door opens.

...

Jesus fuck, really? I hear chuckling outside and look to see who it is. Standing there is a group of marines who were on their way up stairs.

"Giving the commander a good birthday, huh Eltee?" laughs a young marine in a beret.

"Yeah, I knew something was up with you and the commander," jokes another marine.

The sound of voices causes Allyson to jump away from me blushing furiously.

"Fuck you, Jenkins," I say humorously, before looking at the other. "And at least I can get some, Sullivan. The rest of us are getting worried about you. I still wonder how you can walk without a limp."

This gets the other marines laughing at Sullivan's expense. Glad they found that fun-

Oof!

Suddenly I'm on my knees from a jab to the stomach. This causes the guys to stop laughing. Now there looking at the same thing as me. A slightly annoyed Allyson Shepard.

"You do realize I'm standing right here, right?" she asks with a huff.

"Yeah, but did ya have to punch me?" I wheeze.

"Ah shake it off Barnes," she smirks, patting me on the head. "You deserved it for that comment. I mean come on, do really think you can handle this?"

She gestures to her body then walks away swaying her hips, leaving me and the other marines gaping at her. This woman is gonna be the death of me.

I jog up the stairs after her, darting past Doctor Chakwas who give a quick hello to. I pass the CIC and make my way up to cockpit.

"Glad you two could join us," the pilot says over his shoulder.

I can just tell he's got a big ass grin on his face.

"Though, you didn't have your hair up before Commander," he continues, smile evident in his tone. "Did the Lieutenant mess it up giving you your birthday present?"

"Joker, how easy is it to break your arm again?" I ask feigning curiosity.

"Alright, alright. Just kidding, he replies, putting his hands up in defense. "Now let's get this show on the road. Man it's good to be back in the Normandy."

His hands fly across the display in front of him, sending information to the Relay that just came into view.

"The Arcturus Prime Relay is in range. Initiating transmission sequence," Joker states, suddenly serious as he puts in more commands. "Okay, we are connected. Calculating transit mass and destination. The relay is hot. Acquiring approach vector. All stations secure for transit. The board is green and approach run has begun. Hitting the relay in three...two...one"

Suddenly the space outside the ship lights up s bright blue and I feel a slight tug like we're being pulled forward. Before us is an electric blue corridor that stretches on forever. Then almost as soon as it appears it's gone and we drop back into normal space.

"Thrusters...check. Navigation...good to go. Internal sink engaged. All systems online. Drift...just under fifteen hundred K."

"Fifteen hundred is good," replies a flanging voice from behind me. "Your Captain will be pleased."

Jesus holy fuck! I didn't even know Nihlus was there. The bastard's way too sneaky. I probably just jumped a good foot and judging by the look on a certain redheaded commander's face, I won't be forgetting it anytime soon.

Nihlus starts walking away, and as soon as he's out of earshot Joker mutters, "I hate that guy."

"Nihlus gave you a compliment, so you hate him," comes a voice from the co-pilot seat.

Looking towards the voice I'm met with the sight of Kaidan Alenko. Holy shit! Even though I've been here seven years, it never gets old meeting people who were my favorite characters in the game. Okay first impression time. Let's not fuck up like with Allyson and Vega...then of course I start laughing.

"Something funny, sir?" Kaidan asks, curiosity plain on his face.

Then, before thinking I say, "I'm sorry Alenko. It's just that the 1950s called. Elvis wants his hair back."

This gets a good humored glare from the Lieutenant and a loud laugh from Joker.

"Good one Eltee," Joker says, before turning his attention back to Kaidan. "Anyways, 'Remember to zip your jumpsuit on the way out of the bathroom.' That's good. I just jumped us halfway across the galaxy and hit a target the size of a pinhead. So that's incredible! Besides, the guy's a Spectre, and Spectres are trouble. I don't like having him onboard. Call me paranoid.

"You're paranoid," Alenko replies. "Besides the Council helped fund this project. They have the right to send someone to oversee their investment."

"Yeah that's the official story. Only an idiot believes the official story," Joker shoots back.

"I agree," Allie states thoughtfully. "Who's ever heard of a Spectre being sent on a shakedown run?"

"Aha!" Joker exclaims. "So there's more going on than the Captain's letting on."

"I think that was obvious the moment Nihlus stepped onboard," I comment, adding my two cents.

"Joker! Status report!" orders the voice of Captain David Anderson over the comms.

"Just cleared the Mass Relay, Captain," Joker reports. "Stealth systems are engaged. Everything looks solid."

"Good. Find a comm buoy and get us patched into the network," Anderson commands tersely. "I want mission reports relayed back to Alliance brass before we reach Eden Prime."

"Aye, aye Captain," Joker answers. "Better brace yourself, sir. Nihlus is on his way."

"He's already here, Lieutenant. Tell Commander Shepard and Lieutenant Barnes to come to the comm room for a debriefing."

The comm cuts off and it's quite for a couple of seconds.

"You guys get that?" Joker asks us.

"Yeah I'm just wondering why he wants to see me too. Allie's his XO," I state puzzled.

This wasn't supposed to happen. Only Shepard is supposed to be debriefed.

"He sounds angry," Allyson says, sounding concerned. "Something must've gone wrong with the mission."

"Pff. The Captain always sounds like that when he talks to me," Joker replies nonchalantly.

"Gee I can't imagine why," Kaidan quips sarcastically.

"Well we'll be on our way," I state as Allie and I turn to leave.

"So what do you think the Captain wants to talk to us about?" I ask Allie, wanting to hear her thoughts.

"I'm...not sure," she says deep in thought. "Whatever it is just be important to the Council if Nihlus is going to be there too."

I just nod my head, thinking about how right she was. We get back to the CIC to hear the end of an argument between Navigator Pressly and what sounds like Chief Engineer Adams. We walk up to him as he turns around and he salutes Allyson.

"Congratulations, Commander. Looks like we had a smooth run," the older gentleman states. "You and the Lieutenant heading to see the Captain?"

"At ease Pressly," Allyson states, allowing him to drop the salute. "We're on our way to see him right now. Just stopped by because I heard your argument."

"Sorry Commander. Just chatting with Adams down in engineering," he replies apologetically. "Didn't mean to cause a scene. If you're going to see the Captain maybe you can get some answers about why we're out here. I mean with all due respect ma'am, you have to admit something about this mission feels odd. The whole crew can feel it."

"Well Pressly, I'll see if I can get some answers when we see him," Allie says, sounding anxious to get going.

"Good luck, Commander," he answers snapping off a salute before turning back to his console.

As we walk away I lean in close to Allie and whisper, "Did you get the feeling he's more uncomfortable about the fact that Nihlus is onboard?"

"Mum," she agrees. "Hopefully he won't let it get in the way of his job."

"I'm sure he won't," I say simply.

We pass by Corporal Jenkins talking to Doctor Chakwas about Nihlus and walk into the comm room. Inside Nihlus is waiting for us.

"Ah, Commander Shepard, Lieutenant Barnes, I was hoping you'd get here first," Nihlus remarks. "It'll give us some time to talk."

"Where did Captain Anderson go?" I ask, having always wondered where the man went. "He was here just a few minutes ago."

"Your Captain said he had to step out for a minute," Nihlus answered smoothly. "He'll be back momentarily."

"What was it you wanted to talk about?" Allyson asks with guarded curiosity.

"Well I'm interested in this world we're going to- Eden Prime. I've heard it's quite beautiful.

"It's beyond beautiful," I comment. "It's a veritable paradise."

"Yes...a paradise. Serene. Tranquil. Safe. Eden Prime has become quite the symbol to your people hasn't it, Lieutenant?"

I remember his words and speak before he can continue.

"Yes sir, it stands as proof that we, humanity that is, can not only establish successful colonies across the galaxy but protect them too."

"Yes, as you humans say, 'You took the words right from within my mouth,' he replies, mandibles twitching. "But how safe is it really?"

"Do you know something, Spectre?" "Is that a threat?" Allyson and I ask at the same time, respectively.

"Your people are still newcomers in the galaxy. It can be a very dangerous place out there," he states seemingly ignoring both questions. "Is the Alliance truly for this?"

Almost as if on cue, the door behind us slides open with a soft whoosh. We turn to see Captain Anderson stride into the room.

"I think it's time we tell these two what's really going on," he suggests, coming to a stop next to Nihlus.

"This is far more than simple shake down mission," the Turian Spectre declares.

"We kinda figured that out ourselves," Allyson replies, an eager glint entering her eyes. "So what's really going on here?"

"We're making s covert pickup on Eden Prime," Anderson answers smoothly. "That's why we needed the stealth systems up and running."

"Huh, must be pretty important to go to these lengths. What's the payload, Captain?" I ask, feigning curiosity as I know all too well what's waiting for us.

"This information comes down from the top," answers the dark skinned gentleman, his tone suddenly serious. "Information, that's strictly on a need to know basis."

He pauses, probably to collect his thoughts, before continuing.

"A research team on Eden Prime unearthed some kind of beacon during an excavation," he states calmly, before delivering the kicker. "It was Prothean."

"Protheans?" I ask, once again pretending to be curious. "Isn't that the extinct species who made the Relays, and that we based our technologies off of?"

"Precisely, Lieutenant," Nihlus remarks.

"No wonder the Council has taken an interest in this," I say, making myself sound astounded. "The last time humanity made a discovery like this it catapulted us forward two hundred years technology wise. Something like a working beacon could benefit every species. Just imagine what could be on there!"

"It's nice to see that you understand what we're looking at here Lieutenant," Nihlus states genuinely.

"Thank you Nihlus, but that doesn't explain why you're here," I state suspicion entering my voice. "I'm sure the Council trusts us enough to do this on our own. We did inform them of the find I take it. It also doesn't explain why neither I nor Allyson here can turn around without seeing you somewhere nearby. What else is going on?"

"You're sharp, Lieutenant," Nihlus appraises before turning towards Anderson. "I can see why your Admiral recommended him too. Catches on quick."

"I'm sorry, is there something going on here?" Allyson asks impatiently. "It almost seems like we're being evaluated for something. Care to let us in on the secret?"

"Humanity had been pushing for this a long time," Anderson responds, trying to make sure we understand just how important this was. "Humanity wants a larger role in shaping interstellar policy. We want more say with the Citadel Council. Spectres represent the Council's authority and respect. If they accept a human into their ranks, it shows how far the Alliance has come."

"Hold up, I understand what you're saying, but why am I here," I ask suddenly, now genuinely curious. "Allyson is the only one of us who is Spectre material."

"You sell yourself too short, Lieutenant Barnes," Nihlus replies. "While it's true Shepard has been through more than you, what with singlehandedly holding off the enemy at Elysium and surviving the horrors of Akuze, showing great courage and survivability, you too have stood out in the service to your people. I was impressed when I read the mission reports about Torfan. A grim business...but you got the job done while only losing four of sixty men. Impressive by any standards. Not to mention your name comes up whenever Shepard is talked about and vice versa. The two of you are a team."

Here pauses letting his words sink in. The way he's taking, it almost seems like...no. No way. No way in hell could he mean...

"Which is why I put both of your names forward as Spectre candidates," he finishes.

No. Fucking. Way.

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**Le gasp, who saw that coming? I didn't until I wrote it! Well things are turning out interesting, but unfortunately I'm going to be uber busy next week between work and school so there will be no chapter. As always review, point out mistakes, don't bioticlly throw me, and see ya in a couple weeks!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey guys, I'm back! I apologize for there not being a chapter last week, but like I mentioned before things got hectic between work and school...and my wifi broke but whatever! I got it fixed. Anywho, here it is! The first chapter of Eden Prime for _Mass Reality_! Go now and read what I have written!**

**Disclaimer: Mass Effect and all related items and plots belong to Bioware. I own nothing, and do not claim to. The only thing I own is my own character (me).**

* * *

Chapter Six: Fallen Paradise pt. 1

Friday, April 11, 2183  
9:15 AM EST  
Normandy, Comms Room

I can feel my mouth moving, but my mind is blank and nothing is coming out.

"Umm...I think you broke him Nihlus," Allyson states waving a hand in front of my face. "I think drastic measures are needed."

Then she slaps me. This brings me back to reality and I turn back to Nihlus completely ignoring the hand mark now on my face.

"What's the next step, sir?" I ask crisply. "Just tell us what needs to be done."

Allie nods her head in agreement. Both of us stand straighter ready to receive our orders.

"I've read the reports, now I need to see your skills for myself," Nihlus explains. "Eden Prime will be the first of several missions together."

"Shepard, you'll be in charge of the ground team for this mission," Anderson informs us. "Secure the beacon and get it into the ship ASAP. Nihlus will accompany you to observe the mission."

"Well I'm ready to go," I state, eager to get started.

"Me too," Allyson says, already entering what I've dubbed her 'Mission Mode.' "Just give the word, Captain."

Anderson nodded his head and cleared his throat. "We should be getting close to Eden-"

"_Captain! We got a problem_!" Joker's voice interrupts through the intercom sounding a bit panicked.

"What's wrong, Joker?" the special forces operative inquires.

"_Transmission from Eden Prime, sir,_" Joker responds quickly. "_You're gonna wanna see this_."

"Put it up on the vid screen," the man orders.

Instantly the room fills with the sound of gunfire and explosions as the screen appears. A female solider in the distinctive white and pink of the Sirta Foundation's Phoenix Armor runs up to the solider sending the SOS vid.

"_Get down_!" she yells, pushing the marine down, before turning around to fire at an unseen enemy.

_"We are under attack! Taking heavy casualties! I repeat, heavy casualties! We can't- agh!_" the marine practically screams before an explosion goes off nearby disrupting his comms. _"...-eed evac!_"

Then a dreadful sounding drone rips through the air and the sky starts crackling with red lightning. Then from the clouds some...thing starts to descend, looking like black tentacles or the hand of some dark god. Then the scene cuts out and the screen fills with static.

_"Everything cuts out after that. No comm traffic or anything,"_ Joker states, sounding calmed down. _"Just goes dead. There's nothing."_

"Joker, rewind and hold at 38.5," the Captain orders.

The screen rewinds and pauses on the object coming out of the sky.

"My god, what is that?" Allyson whispers.

"Status report," Anderson commands.

"_Seventeen minutes out, Captain,_" Joker responds. _"No other Alliance vessels nearby._"

"Take us in Joker, fast and quiet. This mission just got way more complicated," Captain Anderson announced.

Nihlus was already in combat mode. He was tense and looked like he was ready to react in less than a second if needed.

"A small strike team can move quickly without being detected," Nihlus observes. "It's our best shot at securing the beacon."

With that he's out the door, no doubt to prepare himself for the mission.

"Grab your gear and meet us in the cargo bay," Anderson commands Allyson before turning to me. "Lieutenant grab Alenko and Jenkins and tell them to suit up. The four of you will be the strike team."

"Yes sir!" we affirm, snapping off simultaneous salutes before rushing off.

"Guess I'll get a chance to test out this new amp," Allyson smirks.

"Happy birthday to you," I chuckle.

We exit the comm room and she heads toward the stairs as I turn to Jenkins who's still talking excitedly to Doctor Chakwas.

"Corporal Jenkins, Captain said to suit up," I say, relaying the order. "You're part of the ground team. We're going in hot. The colony is under siege so expect heavy resistance."

"Alright, finally some action!" the young marine exclaims excitedly. "Now's my chance to show the brass what I can really do!"

"I sincerely hope you won't treat this like a game down there Corporal," the Doctor says in that lovely British accent of hers. "I usually end up patching up holes in those who do."

"The Doctor's right, Corporal," I agree. "Keep your head out of the clouds. A good solider keeps themselves focused on the task at hand, not on what someone might say. Just try and do your best. That way someone is bound to notice."

"That's easy for you to say Eltee," Jenkins shoots back, obviously too excited to think before he speaks. "You proved yourself on Torfan. Now it's my chance to prove myself."

I'm instantly bombarded with images of all those Batarians whose lives I brutally ended, followed by the scenes from my earlier nightmare. I grimace which is unfortunately noticed.

"Shit, Eltee, I didn't mean...I shouldn't have-""Corporal just stop talking and go gear up," I order shortly, interrupting him.

"Yes, sir," he says quickly before scampering away.

"Lieutenant, are the nightmares bothering you again?" Chakwas asks knowingly, voice full of concern.

"Don't worry doc," I reply in a tired tone. "If it gets to be too much I know who to come see."

"Honestly, what is it with my patients?" she asks with a huff, though going by the smile I know she's not too serious. "Between you and Jeff it's a wonder I'm still sane anymore."

"Aww, love you too doc," I chuckle. "See ya later Karin."

With a wave goodbye I turn towards the cockpit and start jogging in that direction. I arrive shortly to hear Joker and Kaidan discussing what could be happen planet side.

"You're about to find out. Grab your gear, Alenko. You're headed planet side with the strike team, Captain's order," I announce.

This makes them jump slightly. They both turn their attention to me as I step in behind them. Registering what I said Kaidan gives a quick 'Gotcha,' and runs out of the cockpit.

"How about you Joker," I smirk. "Wanna join us on the strike team?"

"Wow that sounds great!" the pilot exclaimed, sarcasm blatantly obvious. "Gunfire, explosions, combat- oh but wait that involves running which I can't do. Oh darn, guess I'll have to stay up here in this pilot's seat. Well have fun. Bring me back a souvenir."

"Don't worry Jeff, I'll find you a shiny new pair of crutches!" I exclaim with false enthusiasm.

"That's right, make fun of the cripple," Joker mutters, grinning all the while. "Get out of my cockpit."

"I guess I do have a mission to go on," I concede with a laugh. "See ya Joker!"

"Later, Lieutenant," he says with a wave.

Now I've got to get down to the docking bay to suit up. I jog past the CIC and down the stairs to see-

...

Oh come on the elevators can't be that slow. Jenkins and Allyson are standing there impatiently while Alenko is fiddling with his Omni-tool.

"Umm what's going on?" I ask, confused at the scene before me.

Without looking up from his Omni-tool Kaidan says, "The Commander tried to hack the elevator to get it to go faster. Instead she fried the circuitry, causing it to come to a complete halt. Now I'm trying to fix the damn thing."

I face palm at this. Jesus fuck really?

"God damn it Allie," I sigh in frustration. "How many times have I told you _not_ to try and hack things. You aren't a tech specialist!"

"But it was going too slow," she replies innocently. "I was sure I had this time."

Ah man, it's too hard to be mad at her when she gets like this. Hands held behind her back, swaying side to side gently, and yup batting her eyes looking through her hair. By the gods she'll be the end of me.

"We can deal with that later," I sigh, almost missing her smirk. Damn that woman. "Alenko slap some Omni-gel on it so we can get down there already."

This order is followed by him face palming and muttering something that sounds oddly like 'So obvious.' He does so and a second later we can hear the elevator come back to life in whir of machinery. It reaches the top and we all walk in. I hit the button and, very slowly, the elevator descends. We stand there in silence preparing ourselves mentally for the mission.

"You know we could-""No," I say firmly interrupting Allie.

Five seconds go by.

"Yeah but we could-""No," I state a bit louder.

Ten more seconds then...

"I'm sure I could-""Allie we are not going to have a repeat of San Francisco!" I exclaim loudly, causing her to pout.

It's quiet for half a minute before I hear her mutter, "We were only stuck for five hours."

Alenko and Jenkins looked at her in total disbelief causing an indignant look to come across her face.

"What? It was a great bonding experience," she claimed in explanation. "I learned how many languages he can swear in!"

"I believe it's eleven," Anderson's voice cuts through the now open elevator. "Or is it twelve now with Turian?"

"Uh, yes sir," I reply sheepishly.

We file out and head to our lockers to suit up. I see Anderson's curious look and mouth 'Shepard.' At this curiosity turns to amusement and he smiles and shakes his head. All the while Nihlus is standing at the weapons station working on his weapons seemingly ignoring everything going on around him. However his mandibles are spread in what I vaguely recognize as a Turian grin. It only takes a few minutes and everyone is geared up.

Suddenly the comms crackle to life and Jokers voice fills the cargo bay. "_Stealth systems are engaged._"

Then the ship shudders slightly as we enter Eden Prime's atmosphere. The shudder doesn't last too long as the inertia dampers kick in soon after.

"_Someone was doing some serious digging here, Captain,_" Joker adds.

"Your teams the muscle in this operation, Commander," Anderson informs. "Go in heavy and head straight for the dig site."

"Captain, what about survivors?" Kaidan inquires.

"Helping survivors is a secondary objective!" the Captain replies voice getting louder as he compensates for the roaring wind as the cargo bay door opens. "The beacon's your top priority!"

_"We're approaching drop point one,_" announces Joker over the speakers.

Just then Nihlus walks over and racks his shotgun. The Turian Spectre is armed literally to the teeth. His Serrice Council Phantom armor was as black as the void and the lights and markings looked to be the same color as Human blood.

"Nihlus, you're coming with?" Jenkins asks excitedly.

With a shake of his head Nihlus responded, "I work better on my own."

As he says this Joker swoops in low to the ground. With a nod to us Nihlus jumps ship and hits the ground running. Then Normandy takes to the sky again.

"Nihlus will be scouting ahead," Captain Anderson informs us. "He'll feed you status reports throughout the mission; otherwise I want radio silence."

"He can count on us," I affirm.

"We've got his back, Captain," adds Allie.

"Alright, the mission's yours now Shepard," he states. "Good luck."

_"We are approaching drop point two,_" Joker states, his voice now full of humor. _"Thank you for flying Air Joker. Have a wonderful day!"_

The Normandy banks low to the ground again and the four of us jump ship. The moment we hit the ground weapons are up and we search all vectors.

"We're all clear, Commander," Kaidan announces.

Just then Nihlus's voice comes through the comms. "This place got hit hard Commander. Hostiles everywhere. Keep your guard up."

As we advance I take in the surroundings. It was so much worse than anything I could've imagined. The sky was choked with smoke from fires that burned all over the place. In the distances you could see large patches of earth that were scorched, and buildings that were falling apart. The smell of smoke and death filled the air so thickly it was almost hard to breath. Here and there along the way were craters from explosions and the bodies of both soldiers and civilians. A strong wind was blowing all around whipping the smoke around which of course got in my eyes making them sting a bit.

"Oh god," Jenkins says, voice choked with emotion. "What happened here?"

That's right, Jenkins is from Eden Prime. I can't begin to know what he's thinking. I slow down, weapon still up, and walk beside him.

"Hey, Jenkins focus on the mission man," I comment softly. "We'll make these bastards pay, but right now we got a job to do."

He simply nods in reply, and his facial expression becomes stone. His eyes, now focused forward, are filled with rage at what was done to his home. Sighing I pick up the pace to catch up with Allie. We come to an open area that leads to a wooded area, and I can't help but feel its familiar but for the life of me I can't remember why. When this mission is over I'll have to study the notes I wrote down on the games when I first got here.

We hunker down behind a few boulders and Allie indicates to Jenkins to move up. He nods and does so. He almost is to the next cover when a whining noise fills the air and two flying drones come from the wooded area and open fire on Jenkins. Before I can even think to get a barrier up for him the shots rip through his shields and his body. He collapses to the ground, a red puddle slowly creeping from him. The drones then turn their attention to those of us in cover.

Allie motions to Kaidan and I to grab the drones with our biotics to render them motionless so she can take them out. We nod and I put three fingers up.

3...2...1...

Go!

Kaidan and I pop up out of cover and fire our biotics at the two drones. The twin bolts of dark energy zoom through the air and connect with their targets. Not before they get off a few shots however and the few that connect with my shields drop the drastically. Shit whatever type of ammo they use really eats up shielding. As soon as there immobile the air fills with two sharp cracks and the drones explode. Allie pulls back the bolt to vent her sniper rifle before placing it on her back and pulling out an N7 Valkyrie. We rush over to Jenkins and she checks pulse. A shake of her head tells us he's gone.

Damn it! I should've known that this was going to happen. My heart aches knowing I could've prevented the corporal's death, but I shake it off. Now's not the time to dwell on it. I see the pained expression on Alenko's face and remember that they were friends. I swear to myself that I wouldn't let anyone else die if I could help it.

I'm aware of Allyson saying something to us but I zone it out. I just realized that in less than a year the Collectors attack and Allie gets killed. I...I'm not sure what I should do in that situation but right now is not the time.

I'm snapped out my thoughts when an armored hand connects with my head.

"Michael, you in there?" Allyson asks.

"Agh, Jesus fuck Allie!" I exclaim rubbing the back of my head. "Your armor hurts!"

"Then don't zone out in a combat zone!" she hisses. "I swear if you die from a mistake like that I am gonna drag you back from the afterlife and kick your ass! What the hell were you thinking about anyways?"

Ah shit, I hate lying to her. Oh well it's a necessary evil.

"I...was thinking about Torfan," I mutter, lowering my head.

"Oh," she gasps quietly. When I look at her I can see the regret in her eyes.

"Try and keep your thoughts here okay?" Alenko says gently as he puts a hand on my shoulder. "Whatever those things were, I have a feeling we'll need our wits about us to take care of them."

I simply nod and look at our redheaded Commander. "So what's the plan Commander?"

"Okay since we're now down a man we need a new formation," Allie states, snapping into leader mode. "All of us are biotics, so that'll come in handy. Barnes I want you in front. You're the only one with a proficiency in using shotguns. If they charge, blow 'em away. Otherwise try and pick them off with biotics. Alenko you're in the middle. I want you to focus on Lifting enemies out of cover. I know you're handy with that pistol so whatever damage you can with it. I'll bring up the rear with sniper support. Whatever you miss Barnes and whatever you Lift Alenko, expect it to get a bullet through its head. If anyone has complaints now's the time to let them be heard. No? Okay let's get going."

She puts her Valkyrie on its magnetic clip where it folds up, and pulls out her N7 Valiant sniper. I replace my own Valkyrie with an N7 Crusader and rack it. Alenko unholsters his M-5 Phalanx pistol.

"Let's head out," she orders.

I set off at a fast pace, storming into the wooded area ahead of us. About halfway through the air filled with the same whirring noise as before.

"Hostile contact!" I scream, readying my weapon. "Get to cover!"

As soon as the words left my mouth, a drone came flying around a tree. I snapped my shotgun up, pulled the trigger, and the little bugger was blown out of the sky. Pulse rounds hit the ground around me kicking up dirt as the second one zoomed around the other side of the tree flanking me. Several rounds hit my shields dropping them to 10% as I scrambled for cover. I dove into cover and turned to fire, finger tightening on the trigger-

CRACK!

The drone exploded in a cloud of metal shrapnel and white hydraulic fluid. That little kill-steal.

"Got your back, Barney!" exclaims Allyson from her cover, grin apparent in her voice.

"Yeah, screw you kill stealer!" I yell back.

"Flirt later you two!" Kaidan hollers. "We got more hostiles incoming!"

"Shut up Kaidan!" we both yell at the same time, red creeping into my face, and no doubt hers also.

The whirring noise came once more only louder this time. Suddenly eight drones dropped in from above and started firing on us. Pulse rounds pounded into our cover heating up rock to melting point and setting trees on fire. Then we here the hissing sound of weapons overheating and venting.

"Light 'em up!" Allie screams.

As one we flare up our biotics and two warps plus a singularity are sent towards the drones. The warps shred two drones apart, their weak shields not stopping the biotics. The singularity snags the rest and drags them together. Allie and I put away our snipers and take out our ARs in one smooth move and open fire while Kaidan is firing away with his pistol. In moments the ground is covered in machine parts and hydraulic fluid. A tense silence fills the air.

Thirty seconds pass and we assume there are no more drones.

"All clear!" I announce. "Moving forward!"

As we start moving again we hear gunfire up ahead. It dawns on me that not all the gunfire sounds like the pulse rounds the drones were using.

"Heads up, we've got a possible friendly under fire," I call out. "Suggest we stay back and provide sniper support."

"Sounds good, Barnes," Allie states. "Proceed with caution. If there is a friendly let's pull there ass out the fire!"

We surge forward, trying to keep any noise down to a minimum. Before we exit the forest Nihlus contacts us again.

"I've got some burned out buildings here, Shepard. A lot of bodies. I'm gonna check it out," he says, voice sounding calm as ever. "I'll try to catch up with you at the dig site."

The wooded area opens up into a large area that is surrounded on two sides by a rock wall. Immediately I recognize the area from the game. Sure enough down the hill is a female solider in pink and white armor that is covered in soot and blood. She's hunkered down behind a rock for cover as two bipedal robots with glowing optics rain staggering fire down on her position. As if that wasn't bad enough two drones come flying in from the distance.

"Shit it's Geth," I hiss. "And they have that solider pinned down."

"How the hell do you know that's a Geth?" Kaidan asks. "They haven't been seen outside the Veil in three centuries."

"Omnipedia," is my simple answer.

"That's you're answer for everything," Allyson giggles.

"Hey there's some interesting stuff on there," I state defensively.

She and Kaidan just shake their heads and get into position. Allie and I shoulder our snipers and take aim.

Kaidan whispers the count down for us. "Three...two...one."

He makes a fist and the two Geth soldiers'' heads explode in a mess of white fluid and metal. This is quickly followed by the two Geth drones being shot out if the air as well.

"Area secure, Commander," Alenko affirms.

We jog down the hill to where the solider is now slumped on the ground in obvious relief. We reach her and she stands up and at attention.

"Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams of the 212," she declares, addressing me. "Are you the one in charge, sir?"

"Umm actually that's her," I comment, gesturing behind me with my thumb.

"Lieutenant Commander Allyson Shepard, N7," Allie announces to Ashley. "You wounded Williams?"

"No ma'am just a few scrapes and burns," she replies, before her eyes grow sorrowful and she gets quiet. "The others weren't so lucky."

"Give me a status report, Williams," Allyson orders gently.

"Oh man...We were patrolling the area when they hit," she replied shakily. "We tried to get off a distress call but they jammed all communications. I've been fighting for my life ever since."

"Williams, where's the rest of your squad?" I ask gently, knowing the answer wasn't going to be a good one.

"We tried to double back to the beacon, but we walked straight into an ambush. I don't think any of the others," she says before her voice becomes choked with emotion, tears shining in her eyes. "I think I'm the only one left."

Allyson instantly recognizes the guilt in the Chief's eyes. She walks over to her and places a hand on the woman's shoulder.

"This isn't your fault, Williams," Allie states sympathetically. "There wasn't anything you could've done to save them."

Ashley takes a deep shuddering breath before steeling herself.

"Yes ma'am. We held our position as long as we could," she continues. "Until the Geth overwhelmed us, at least."

"The Geth haven't been seen outside the Veil in centuries," Kaidan states again. "Why now? And why here of all places?"

"I bet they came for the beacon," I comment.

"My thoughts exactly, sir," Ashley replies. "The dig site is close, just over that rise. It might still be there."

"Then what're we waiting for?" Allie questions with a smirk. "Let's go get that beacon. We could use your help Williams."

"Aye aye, ma'am," Ash says eyes growing cold. "It's time for some payback."

"Okay same formation as before," Allyson commands. "Williams which do you prefer: close, mid, or sniping range?"

"Close range, ma'am," Ashley responds, sounding eager to get to the fighting.

"Alright join Lieutenant Barnes up front. Let's move it people, double time!"

As we set out I notice something off to the side. It looked to be a white segmented spike jutting up from a piece of Geth tech on the ground. It's white polished metal was tainted with streams of red. Blood running down it from the body of a civilian impaled through the chest near the top. The corpse was still twitching. I shook my head as we ran by, and I heard Kaidan swear at the sight of it. I knew that was just the beginning of the horrors we would witness over the next few years.

* * *

**Whew done with the first part of Eden Prime. Next will be its conclusion and from there, well I'm sure you know. Anyways as always review, point out mistakes, don't send Geth after me, and have a nice week! See ya!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello all! Guess it's time for yet another week's chapter of _Mass Reality_! Don't waste any more time! Go read!**

**Disclaimer: Mass Effect and all related items and plots belong to Bioware. I own nothing, and do not claim to. The only thing I own is my own character (me).**

* * *

Chapter Seven: Fallen Paradise pt2

Firday, April 11, 2183  
9:52 AM EST  
Eden Prime, Dig Site

After a brief skirmish with some Geth troopers, in which no one was injured, we arrived at the dig site to find it empty. We quickly determined that it had been moved, though we didn't know if it was in enemy possession or not. We quickly decided to head to the camp that was at the top of the nearby ridge. Soon after we heard from Nihlus again (something about a small spaceport), we arrived at the camp. It...wasn't a pretty sight.

The grass was slick with blood and there were at least a dozen and a half dragon's teeth spires spread all around the camp grounds.

"Oh Jesus," I mutter. "More of these things."

"Keep your guard up," Kaidan utters wearily. "This seems like a good place for an ambush."

I nod absent mindedly, trying to wrap my head around the number of spires. There weren't that many in the game...were there? I can't remember small details like that anymore. I kick a pebble in annoyance and bounces across the ground...right into one of the spires.

...

_Fucking really?_

All at once the spires collapse in on themselves with the sound of metal rubbing against metal. The worst part about it was that the bodies that were impaled upon every spike started flailing and moaning.

"Oh god they're still alive!" Kaidan exclaim, horrified.

"Jesus fuck, look at them!" I yell in disgust. "What the hell did the Geth do to them?"

I thought that Husks looked creepy in the games, but as per usual it was worse in real life. Their skin was grey and decaying, and their eyes were empty sockets from which a lifeless dull blue glow emitted. Tubes ran throughout their skin, stretching it to ripping point in places, as an effulgent blue liquid ran through them. As the first of them hit the ground they started lumbering towards us. Then the moaning noise they were making took on an aggressive tone. Wasting no time I snapped up my shotgun and level it at the nearest husk. It charged, I pulled the trigger, and it's head exploded in a rain of green fluid and decaying flesh. The boom of my shotgun sounding off sent the remaining seventeen husks to enter a frenzy.

"Shit, open fire!" Allyson orders frantically.

The air reverberates with the roar of gunfire as the four of us unleash hell upon the husks. I get off three more shots, resulting in two dead husks and one losing a leg, before my shotgun overheats. Without hesitating I drop it to the ground, pull out my Valkyrie, activated the Overkill program, and continued firing.

We had taken out half of them when a large biotic shockwave rippled through the camp, blasting away husks and the dragon's teeth that created them. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at the source, which turned out to be Allyson. She had her arms out before get, palms out and her eyes were wide and her mouth hung open slightly.

"Oh. My. God. That was awesome!" she squealed in delight, before turning to me. "Best gift ever!"

I just shook my head seeing the large grin on her face before inspecting the husks. The concussive blast of the shock wave killed the rest of them. Huh, concussive blasts take them out in one hit, where unless it was a headshot you had to riddle them with bullets to take them out. Should've remembered that one.

"All hostiles down," I announce. "Looks like these things are weak against concussive blasts, bullets not so much."

"Well that's damn useful," Ashley stated. "Have to keep that in mind for next time."

I take a look around the camp and decide that we shouldn't waste any more time staying there.

"Well Commander, looks like there's nothing left to do here," I lie. "I think we should continue on towards that spaceport Nihlus mentioned."

"Sounds like a good plan," she agrees. "Doesn't look like anything made it out of here alive. Alright team, let's double time it to the spaceport. We've got an alien beacon to secure."

"Aye, aye ma'am," the rest of answer.

We set off at a fast pace, the others never noticing the temporary housing unit with the locked down access panel.

XXXX

We were about halfway to the spaceport, if I remembered right, when we heard the loud crack of a heavy pistol echo through the air. I winced when I realized what just happened. Nihlus had just been shot. I gritted my teeth in anger. I hadn't known him long, but Nihlus had been a good man. We reached the top of the hill and the spaceport came into view in the distance. However that wasn't what caught our attention. What did was the ship so massive it blocked the sun. The color was so dark I wasn't sure it could be called black anymore. It had five tentacle like appendages and the entire thing looked like a squid. The worst part about it was the feeling you got by looking at it. I felt my blood turn to ice and my legs almost lost the strength to hold me up. It didn't so much scream evil as whisper it like something from the worst of nightmares. This was my first real sight of Sovereign. My first real sight of what was to come. Then just when I thought it couldn't get any worse than it was, it did. It started as a tingle in the back of mind before exploding in an excruciating headache that sends me to my knees.

_**'YOU DO NOT BELONG HERE. YOU ARE AN ANOMALY. SOMETHING THAT **_**WILL**_** BE ELIMINATED. YOUR PRESENCE WILL CHANGE NOTHING. THE CYCLE WILL CONTINUE.'**_

Well fuck. Guess the giant creepy Reaper dreadnought knows I'm here. Doesn't seem like he's happy about it, either. I can vaguely hear Kaidan and Ashley comment on the ship while Allie ask me what's wrong. I wave her away saying I was fine. Just a bad headache. She backed off, though it didn't seem like she believed me.

We continued down the hill towards a storage unit. Then we heard the moaning of husks and the electronic garbling of the Geth.

We got into cover and began taking them out one by one. It went relatively quick, as there wasn't that many. Just a small rearguard of about six Geth and four husks. After taking care of them we continued to the lone storage unit. When we approached it we heard shuffling on the inside.

I racked my shotgun to get ready for combat when a voice sounded from inside the shack. "Don't shoot! We're coming out and we're unarmed!"

A group of three people, two men and a woman, dressed in overalls slowly walked out of the building.

"It's okay now, you're all safe," Allyson states calmly.

"Oh thank god you're here," states the man who called out before. "I was so sure those things were gonna break in kill us. My name is Cole, we were tending the fields when the attack hit. Thought we could find something to defend ourselves with in the shed over there."

"I-I still can't believe it," whimpered the female, sounding almost hysterical. "When that ship appeared I thought it was all over."

"It's okay, Jenny," Cole says calmly. "Damn thing showed up right before the attack happened. Knew it was trouble the second it appeared."

"Can you tell us anything about the ship you saw?" Allyson inquired.

"Well I didn't get a good look cause I was run-""Tell them about the noise, Cole! That awful noise," Jenny interrupted Cole frantically.

"Oh yeah. That," Cole said with a shiver. "Damn thing was emitting a signal as it dropped out the sky. Sounded like the shriek of the damned. Only it was coming from inside my head. Felt like it was tearing through my damn skull. Made it almost impossible to think straight."

"Sounds like it could've been a signal jammer," Allyson muttered thoughtfully. "Anyway we have to be on the way. You three get to safety."

"Hey Cole, we're just a bunch of farmers," the other man comments. "Maybe we should give them the stuff. They're soldiers. It'll help them more than us."

"Jesus Blake, learn to keep your mouth shut!" Cole exclaims heatedly.

"Let me guess, smuggling ring?" I ask putting my knowledge to good use. "Normally I'd get all bent out of shape and tell how wrong it is before telling you to hand over whatever it is. But whatever you have will probably serve you better in keeping you safe. All I really want is your contact. Give that to me and we're good. Don't and I may just show you why I'm called the Butcher of Torfan."

It made me sick to threaten them like this, but my head was killing me, plus I was tired of this planet, and all the death around us. I just wanted to get to the damn beacon and leave. Allyson gave me a weird look, most likely knowing something.

"Oh God, I thought you looked familiar," Cole whimpered, color draining from his face. "O-okay his name is Powell. W-works the docks a-at the spaceport. If he's still a-alive."

"Good now get the hell out of my sight," I growl venomously.

The three farmers comply and scamper away. My hand goes up to my head as the headache from earlier flares up. I jump when a hand lands on my shoulder, but it turns out to be Allie.

"Michael, are you okay?" she asks concerned. "That wasn't like you at all. And what's wrong with your head? Ever since we saw that ship take off you've had a pained look on your face. Almost like Alenko when he has his migraines."

"I'm just sick of this planet, Allie," I whisper so only she can hear. "All this death and destruction. It's too much like Torfan. As for the headache I don't know, maybe it's stress. Let's just keep going."

She nods and tells the other two were setting out. I hear footsteps coming towards me again and turn to see Kaidan again.

"Here sir, I thought you could use these," he says with a smile, handing me three small pills. "For the migraine."

I accepted them gratefully and downed them. Thankfully, due to marvel of modern medicine, they kick in almost immediately, flooding my head with the wonderful feeling of no pain. With a nod of thanks we set out again. When we reach the spaceport we're met with a grisly sight.

Lying ahead of us is a figure in black and red armor with blood pooling around their head. Blue blood.

"Shit it's Nihlus," Kaidan swears.

Allie and I swear at the sight. Indeed it was, though you could only tell by his armor. Whatever gun Saren used did quite a bit of damage. The entry wound in the back of the head wasn't so bad, but the exit wound? I winced when I saw that. It looked like his face exploded from the inside. There were bits of skull fragments, brain matter, and exoplating on the ground in front of the corpse. His was definitely going to be a closed casket service.

"A Turian?" Ashley asked, albeit a bit weakly. "You guys knew him?"

"He was a Spectre," Kaidan explains. "He was with us on the Nor-"

Before we finished we heard something shift behind some crates to our right. Instantly our guns were trained in that direction.

"Come out right now or we start shooting!" Allyson announces.

Instantly a figure pops up with his hands in the air. From his attire you could tell he was a dockworker.

"Wait don't shoot, I'm one of you!" he yells. "I'm human too. My names Powell, I'm one of the dockworkers."

"Sneaking up on us like that almost got you killed!" the redhead chides.

"I'm sorry," he mutters, looking ashamedly at the ground. "I was hiding from those creatures. I also saw what happened to that Turian. The other one killed him."

"What the hell?" Allie asks confused. "You mean to tell me you saw another Turian kill this one?"

"Yeah that's exactly right. There were two Turians here. Your friend there and another he called Saren. I think they knew each other, cause your friend here relaxed and let his guard down. That's when Saren pulled out his gun and shot him point blank in the back of the head! I'm just glad he didn't see me back here."

"How did you get back there?" I ask, wanting to make the man squirm. "Apparently the rest if your coworkers didn't have enough time to get there, so how did you? Unless...you were there already weren't you?"

"I...sometimes need a nap to get through my shift," Powell admits, guiltily. "I sneak behind the crates where the boss can't see me and catch forty winks."

"Wait you survived because you're a lazy bastard?!" Ashley asks incredulously, looking ready to punch him. "You son of a bitch! You make me sick!"

"Williams stand the fuck down!" Allyson snaps before her voice becomes ice cold. "I agree with you but he's useful for now. Now, you're gonna tell us where this Saren went after killing Nihlus. Then you're gonna hand over whatever military tech you have on hand. And don't deny it because we already know you're Cole's contact for the smuggling operation."

She pulls back the slide on her pistol for emphasis. Damn she can be scary when she wants to. Powell looks terrified and is as white as sheet from the implied threat.

"Okay, okay, he went over to the other platform! You have to take the tram to get there," he stammered nervously. "As for the tech you can take it all! Now I'm out of here!"

With that he pulled out a crate and ran off. I opened it up and Allie's eyes light up like its Christmas. The crate is filled with grenades and nestled on top is an incendiary ammo mod. I almost miss her snatching the mod because I blinked at the wrong moment. I definitely don't miss the grin or the evil cackle she gives."

"Yes, fire! Now my enemies shall burn!" she exclaims with an unhealthy amount of glee.

Kaidan is about to say something so I put a hand on his shoulder and shake my head. "Times like these, it's best to just let it run its course."

He nods hesitantly and states wearily at our pyromaniac, red-haired Commander. All the while Ashley seems to be getting a kick out of Allyson's behavior.

After about a minute or so I decide it's time to reel her in. "Allie be a pyro on your own time! We've got a mission to complete, and you are in charge remember?"

This snaps her out of her fire induced solitary world. Nodding her head she orders us to push on like nothing happened...as she straps as many grenades as age can to her magnetic clip. What is it with this girl and explosives?

I pull my sniper out as we approach the ramp to the tram. I take up a position near the top and take a quick look over the rail. I motion to Ashley that there are two Geth soldiers at the bottom. She nods, puts her shotgun away, and pulls out her M-5 Phalanx. I toss her my N7 Eagle and she creeps slowly and silently down the ramp. She reaches the bottom without alerting the two Geth, and creeps up behind them. When she's within range she quickly stands up setting off their motion detectors. They swing around to see the barrel of a gun in each of their photoreceptors. Ashley pulls the trigger on each gun and machinery bursts out the back of each Geth's head. As they're falling limply she's diving into cover, and just in time too because the tram just returned with a dozen Geth shock troopers plus a Geth Prime. I motion forward again and without question Allie and Kaidan vault over the railing, land with a somersault, roll right into cover with Ashley.

"Float and sting!" I yell from cover.

I get no reply, but I know I'm heard when I see three Geth fly into the air. Three trigger pulls later and each Geth has its head explode.

"I'm coming down!" I yell again. Then without waiting for a reply I put my rifle away and vault over the rail. I land the same way as the other two and join them in cover.

"Nice of you to join us Barney," Allyson says with a smirk.

"Well I couldn't let you have all the fun," I reply with a laugh. "Hey Ash, switch to your sniper. I don't know how strong the big one is but I'm not risking pissing it off. You, me, and the commander are gonna snipe it together."

She nods and does as I said. At the same time I hear Allie doing the same. I slowly count down from three and when I reach zero we spring up from cover and train our sights on the Prime. The air fills with a roaring crack and it's head is suddenly not there anymore. The big guy drops and then a second later explodes taking out the surrounding shock troopers, leaving two which were quickly dispatched.

"Wow that was easier than I thought it would be," I state in relief. "Wonder what caused the big guy to explode so spectacularly."

"Uh I may or may not have thrown about six grade-four explosives over there before you jumped down," Allyson comments sheepishly.

I just shake my head and walk towards the tram. It took Kaidan only a few seconds to figure out the controls and we were on our way to the other platform.

XXXX

After arriving at the other platform we immediately come under fire. We charge of the tram only to discover that there was a bomb set to go off in three minutes. A quick scan of the vicinity reveals four more in the area. It takes Allie about twenty seconds to disarm the first one and she's off like a bat out of hell. While she's running around disarming the bombs the rest of clear out the Geth that are shooting at her trying to prevent her from doing her job. She manages to disarm the last bomb with 24 seconds remaining.

We walk out to the dock and go down the ramp. I took a single step off when I get blindsided and smashed in the side by a grey and blue blur. Pain flares up and I'm pretty sure I now have several broken bones. I struggle to keep something away from me when I hear the roar of a shotgun going off. Suddenly there's nothing on top of me. That's when the medical program sets in and medigel is directed to the injured area numbing the pain. I'm hefted off the ground to see Ashley standing there with a shotgun in her hands.

"You okay, sir?" she asks with a cheeky grin.

"Yeah, yeah laugh it up Williams," I reply, with a grin of my own. "Thanks for saving my ass there. Oh and enough of that 'sir' shit. Makes me feel old."

"You're welcome," she states with a smile. "You owe me though. Saving your ass caused me to miss the rest of the action, Barney."

I nod in agreement and we walk over to where Kaidan and Allyson are.

...

Just in time to see Allyson get dragged into the air in front of the beacon. Without thinking I rush forward to grab her, ignoring Kaidan's protests, and my hand touches her leg.

Instantly my whole body seizes and my back arches before I'm yanked into the air roughly. My surroundings rapidly disintegrate and are replaced.

_Screaming.  
The air it-it's on fire.  
I hear screaming.  
Buildings collapsing.  
Agony.  
I smell burning flesh.  
Make the pain stop.  
People are being trampled.  
Terror.  
Everything is exploding.  
It's too much.  
Ships are being torn apart.  
Make it stop.  
That horrible droning noise.  
Make it stop.  
An attack of immense size.  
It hurts so much.  
Make it stop.  
Numbers blacken the sky.  
People being torn limb from limb.  
It hurts so much!  
Make it stop!  
A lone planet appears in the distance.  
Your only hope is-  
__**THERE IS NO HOPE. THE CYCLE WILL CONTINUE. ALL WILL PERISH.**_

The last thing I see is a Reaper dreadnought bearing down on me before everything goes black.

* * *

**And there we are! The epic conclusion to Eden Prime! Next time week will be the longest chapter so far, so I hope you're all looking forward to it! As always review, point out mistakes, don't blast me out the nearest airlock, and have a nice week! Keelah Se'lai!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Yay it's the moment you've all been waiting for! (I hope) The new chapter of _Mass Reality_! Now go forth once again faithful monke-I mean readers and enjoy the story!**

**Disclaimer: Mass Effect and all related items and plots belong to Bioware. I own nothing, and do not claim to. The only thing I own is my own character (me).**

* * *

Chapter Eight: Raised to Power

Saturday, April 12, 2183  
1:30 PM EST  
Normandy, Medbay

When I return to consciousness the first thing I register is pain. My whole body is sore, and my head kills. Like someone had taken a knife, jammed it in there, and started moving it.

"Ugh, did anyone catch the serial number of the dreadnought who hit me?" I ask eyes fluttering open.

"It got you too, huh? Hehe bastard needs to learn how to drive," chuckles a weak sounding voice to my right.

I turn my head, which hurt to do so, and look towards the voice. Lying in a bed next to mine is Allyson. Her hair was stuck to her forehead from sweat, she had dark rings under her eyes, and she looked as white as a sheet.

"Geez Allie, you look like shit," I say without thinking.

"You know just what to say to make a girl feel good," she replies sarcastically.

Just then the door slides open and Kaidan walks in. His eyes go wide when he sees us.

"They're awake!" he yells out the door, and a second layer Dr. Chakwas waltzes in.

"Well glad you two could join us in the land of the living," she states with a warm smile. "How are each of you doing?"

"Minor throbbing. Nothing serious. How long was I out?" "Like the morning after shore leave. How long was I out?" Allie and I ask respectively and simultaneously.

The doctor just chuckled and leaned back against her desk.

"About fifteen hours. Something happened down there with the beacon, I think," Karin explained.

"It was all my fault," Kaidan comments guiltily. "I think I triggered some sort of security field. The Commander got caught in it when she threw me out of the way. Guess it caught you too sir, when you touched her."

"Hey don't be so hard on yourself Kaidan," I say, forcing myself to sit up. "You had no clue something like that would happen."

"Actually we're not even sure that's what set it off," Chakwas says matter of factly. "And we'll never be able to tell now."

"What you mean doc," Allyson asks, tilting her head slightly. "What happened to the beacon?"

"It uh, kinda exploded," Kaidan replies hesitantly. "A system overload most likely. Blast knocked you both out cold. I ended Lifting you both back to the Normandy."

He winces a lot as he speaks and it dawns on me that doing so must've caused one hell of a migraine. Two people in heavy armor _definitely _aren't light.

"Jesus Alenko, that couldn't have been easy. I owe you one," I thank him.

"Yeah, same here," Ally agrees, before turning to the doctor. "So what's the damage doc? How bad did we get hurt this time?"

This gets a laugh out if the doctor.

"This time is right. I should just put your names on that bed if your records are anything to go by," she chuckles. "As for now you're both physically okay, but I detected some unusual brain activity; some abnormal beta waves. In fact, the strange thing is, it was identical in both of you. I also detected an increase in rapid eye movement, and both are signs associated with intense dreaming."

Thinking about the vision burned into my mind sends a shiver down my spine. Even though the vision makes no sense, I can recall it perfectly.

"Not a dream, if anything the vision I saw was a nightmare," Allyson voices quietly. "I saw death and destruction. I can't make sense if it all."

I simply nod my head in agreement. In the state I'm in I don't trust myself to say something I shouldn't.

"Hmm, I should add this to my report. It may-" just the slides open and the captain steps in. "Oh, Captain Anderson."

"How are my XO and Lieutenant holding up, Doctor?" he inquires warmly.

"All readings look normal," Karin affirms. "I'd say they're both of them are good to go, though knowing the Lieutenant's track record, I'm surprised he didn't wake up later."

I glare at Chakwas as everyone laughs at my expense. I just shake my head and look at Anderson.

"Haha guys funny. Now then I get the feeling this isn't a courtesy visit, sir. Is there something wrong?"

"Sharp as ever Lieutenant," he comments with a nod. "I need to speak to you and Shepard-in private."

"Understood sir," Kaidan says with a nod. "I'll be outside if you need me."

"Lieutenant, Shepard, try not to hurt yourselves while I'm gone," Chakwas smirks.

After the door closes Anderson puts in a code that locks down the access panel. Then he turns to us looking all business.

"Heard that beacon hit you two pretty hard," he comments with concern. "You sure you're both okay?"

"I'm good," I confirm nonchalantly.

"Yeah, I'll live," Ally remarks. "You said you wanted to talk to us?"

For the first time since meeting him, I can see all of his years. With a deep weary sigh he looks first at Ally, then at me.

"I won't lie to you two. Things look bad. Nihlus is dead, the beacon was destroyed, and on top of that the Geth are invading. The Council is going to want answers."

"We didn't do anything wrong, Captain," Allyson states firmly. "Hopefully, the Council will see that."

"Pff, I doubt it," I mutter. "They're goddamn politicians."

"Regardless, I'll stand behind both of you and your reports," the Captain replies with a smile, one that quickly turns to a frown. "However, that's not the reason I came down here. Saren is. He's a Spectre, one of the Council's best. A living legend. If he's involved with the Geth then it means he's gone rouge. Any rouge Spectre is trouble, but Saren is dangerous; he hates humans."

"Which explains why he was so willing to attack Eden Prime," growls Allyson. Racists and xenophobes piss her off.

Hmm look at that. Another opportunity to use my foreknowledge.

"I don't think so Ally," I comment, pretending like I'm trying to piece things together. "I think he attacked because of the beacon. He wanted whatever was on it."

"You two were there just before the beacon self-destructed," Anderson observes. "Did you see anything that could help us? Any clue as to what Saren was after?"

"I'm not quite sure," Allyson replies. "Just before the blast knocked me cold I had a vision of some kind."

"A vision?" questions the captain sounding intrigued. "A vision of what?"

"It's a little fuzzy but I saw synthetics, Geth maybe," she replies with shiver. "They were slaughtering people. Butchering them."

"My vision was a little clearer I guess," I lie. "It wasn't the Geth in the vision, but they were synthetics. It kept repeating the word Reapers. I think it was a warning that came too late."

"If that's the case we have to tell the Council about this," Anderson responds.

"Heh not like they don't already think I'm off kilter because of Torfan," I scoff. "Sure let's add this too."

"We have no idea what else could've been on that beacon!" Captain Anderson exclaims. "It could've had weapon schematics for some ancient WMD or even lost Prothean technology. Whatever it is Saren has it. I know Saren. I know how his reputation, and I know his politics. This was an act of war! Saren considers humanity a blight on the galaxy. He has the information from the beacon, and he has an army of Geth at his disposal. He won't stop until he's wiped humanity from the galaxy!"

"Then we stop him," I state simply. "There's not much we can do now, but if we find evidence proving him to be a traitor the Council will revoke his Spectre status."

"Excellent idea, Lieutenant," Anderson states with a bit of enthusiasm. "I'll contact the ambassador and see if he can get us an audience with the Council. He'll want to see us as soon as we reach the Citadel. In fact we should be getting close. Head on up to the cockpit and tell Joker to bring us in to dock."

We turn and walk out of the med bay and out into the mess hall. To my surprise standing there waiting for us is Ashley instead of Kaidan.

"Hey Commander," she says with a little wave.

"Williams what're you doing here?" Ally asks sounding pleasantly surprised. "You're not assigned to this ship."

"Captain Anderson had me transferred to his command," she replies with a shrug. "Guess he figured I knew what I was doing."

"That's great, but I kinda can't talk right now," she says distractedly. "Gotta go talk to Joker. I talk to you later. You'll probably be going with the ground team to see the Council."

With that she runs off, leaving a confused and slightly disgruntled Ashley behind.

"Don't take it personally Williams. Ally's like a little kid when it comes to space travel," I explain. "Seeing the Relays and the Citadel never gets old for her."

A look of understanding crosses Ashley's features and then she starts laughing. "Gotcha, I'll keep that in mind. Now I don't know about you, but I kinda want to see the Citadel too. Let's get going!"

With that she takes off for the stairs too. I just shake my head and follow her upstairs.

I reach the cockpit in time to hear: "Well size isn't everything."

"Aww, did someone have a bad shore leave last time?" I ask snidely.

"Haha funny," he replies flatly. "I'm just sayin, ya need firepower too."

"Look at that beast!" Ashley explains, gesturing at the ship. "It's main gun could rip through the barriers of any ship in the Alliance fleet!"

"Well then it's a good thing it's on our side," Kaidan interjects.

We all nod in agreement, and Joker keys in a command to contact the Citadel.

"Citadel control, this is the SSV Normandy, requesting permission to dock," he announces.

"Standby for clearance Normandy," replies the feminine voice, then there's a pause of about five seconds. "Clearance granted. You may begin your approach. Transferring you to an Alliance operator."

The line goes silent for a bit before picking up again. This time the voice is masculine.

"Normandy, this is Alliance Tower. Please proceed to dock 422."

"Roger Alliance Tower, Normandy out."

The Normandy glides gently into the dock, guided by Joker's deft hands. The magnetic clamps secure to the ship with barely any noise and seconds later something pings on Joker's display.

"Alright, we are good to go," he announces.

"Alright we should get going then," Anderson says as he walks up to us. "Udina will want to see us ASAP."

"See ya guys," Joker says with his usual grin. "Have fun with the politicians."

I just wave goodbye and shake my head as we leave. Udina can't be that bad right?

XXXXX

2:30 PM EST  
Citadel Tower

Turns out the game has Udina pegged 100%. The guy's an asshole. In fact I'm sure if he wasn't humanity's ambassador, being punched on a daily basis would be normal for him. I've never actually wanted to slug someone that badly before.

Anyways, after we left Ambassador Assface's office. We decided it would best to just straight to the Citadel Tower. We ended up walking there since it appears that Allyson has some inane fear of rapid transit cars. Huh, who knew?

After her brief terror episode, we reached the elevator and were subjected to the torture of a very slow elevator ride. During which I once again had to prevent Ally from attempting to speed it up. Absolutely no patience in that one.

We finally reached the top and exited the elevator, coming upon two Turians arguing. Then I realize just who one of those Turians is. Holy shit it's Garrus!

"I just need a bit more time!" Garrus "Stall them!"

"Stall the council?" asks the other Turian incredulously. "Don't be ridiculous. Your investigation is over, Garrus."

The other Turian storms past us, throwing us a look of disdain mixed with a little disgust. Ah yes that's right, Pallin hates humans. Garrus turns to us without missing a beat.

"Commander Shepard? Garrus Vakarian. I was the officer in charge of the C-Sec investigation into Saren," he informs.

"Who was that walking ray of sunshine?" I ask. "He seemed sooo nice."

"That would be Executor Pallin, head of Citadel Security, Lieutenant Barnes," he chuckles. "You have yet to see just how 'nice' he can be."

Did...did Garrus just air quote? Holy shit he did! Jesus fuck, that must be a Turian thing. I'm finding quite hard not to burst out laughing right now.

"Sounds like you really want to take Saren down," Allyson observes.

"Something about him rubs me the wrong way. Saren's a Spectre though, everything he touches is classified. I couldn't do anything through all the red tape."

"Ha! Pay up you three!" I exclaim with glee.

The others just grumble and fiddle with their Omni-tools, and a couple seconds later mine chimes as money is transferred to my account. Meanwhile Garrus just looks on in confusion. So I take it upon myself to explain.

"These three sorry saps were being overly optimistic about the outcome of your investigation Officer Vakarian-" "Garrus. Officer Vakarian is my father."

I just shoot him a good humored glare for interrupting before I continue.

"Anyways, since they were so optimistic, I bet them that the investigation would turn up nothing due to all the evidence being classified and buried under red tape."

At this he starts laughing. "Wow you seem to know how things work."

I shrug my shoulders. "Meh, I try. Anyways thanks for trying to help us out. We better go see the Council now."

He nods and give us a brief 'Good luck' as we head up towards the Council. When we reach Captain Anderson, he's looking a little annoyed.

"Come on the Council's started without us."

"Oh boy," I comment flatly. "More politicians. This is a headache waiting to happen."

XXXXX

Turns out I was right. By the end of the fairly short meeting I had a killer headache. Talking with the Council and trying to convince them Saren was guilty was like trying to move a mountain with your forehead. All that was gonna happen was you'd end up with an aching head. Then of course Ambassador Assfa- I mean Udina had the gall to turn around and pretty much blame Captain Anderson.

"Have I mentioned I hate politicians?" I ask aloud.

"You may have mentioned it once or twice," Ally mutters. "Anyways, I'm thinking that we should look into Harkins. He may be a bum, but if he can get us to Garrus I'll take it."

"I think we should split up," I suggest. "I'll look into that information broker the Captain mentioned. See if I can find anymore leads through him."

"Good idea," Ally replies. "Take Willi-" "Ma'am he's not there anymore."

I'd activated a tactical cloak to sneak away. As I walked away I heard her say "Oh that bastard!"

XXXX

I hopped into a rapid transit cab to the Upper Wards. Before it landed I activated my cloak again. The expressions on people's faces were priceless when they saw the cab open and there was no one there.

I made my way through the crowd towards the med clinic. When I get near I see Garrus crouched down over by the door. I get behind him, stand up, and deactivate my cloak.

"Well Detective Garrus, imagine meeting you here."

Next thing I know my feet are knocked from beneath me and there's a gun in my face being held by a very scary looking Garrus Vakarian. The fierce look on his face changes to surprise when he recognizes me.

"Lieutenant Barnes?"

"Hello Garrus," I say with a smile, trying not to show how terrified I am. "How's your day going?"

"Oh you know, pretty good," he replies not missing a beat as he helps me up. "Found a lead on Saren."

"Does it involve a Quarian?" I ask feigning curiosity. "Because if so, we're following the same lead."

I swear I see suspicion in his eyes but it disappears to fast to be sure. He nods his head and gestures at the door.

"It does indeed. I tracked her down to this Med Clinic. It's run by a Dr. Chloe Michel. When I got here I noticed the controls were locked down," he explains. "I found it strange since Dr. Michel has a reputation for being available to anyone at any time. I hacked into the security and found out that there's a bunch of armed thugs in there. I think they were sent to silence her about the Quarian."

"Can you get those doors open silently?" I inquire. "If so I can sneak in under my tac-cloak and start taking them out."

"Sounds good, but how are you going to keep the doctor safe?" he asks.

As an answer I flare up my biotics. This causes Garrus to twitch his mandibles in amusement. "Ah that's how. Okay let's get this done."

He punches a command into his Omni-tool and the door slides open without its usual whooshing noise. I activate my cloak and slowly creep in. The thug in charge is yelling at Dr. Michel, who looks close to tears, about Tali and how they're here to shut Chloe up so she can't say anything. They don't notice the door opening, which is a good thing. I manage to sneak behind the leader, who now has a gun pointed at Chloe's head, and pull out my knife.

"I think we're gonna have some fun before you die doc-ghrk!"

I shove my knife into the side of the leader's neck and rip it out sideways, spraying copious amounts of his lifeblood into the air. In the same instance I raise a Barrier between the now during man and Dr. Michel, preventing her from being sprayed with blood as well as being shot at.

My cloak deactivates leaving me standing there in blood covered armor holding a now red-colored knife. The rest of the thugs jump at my sudden appearance.

"Wha-who the hell are yo-"

The thug is interrupted by a loud crack and then his brains explode out the side of his head, accompanied by shards of his skull.

The moment the other thugs look over to see Garrus, I reach out and grab them with my biotics. A second later the remaining thugs each have broken necks, courtesy of being smashed into the ceiling. Garrus looks impressed, and is nodding his head in approval.

"Nicely done," he comments. "Quick and efficient. Now then, Dr. Michel, did they hurt you?"

Chloe takes a deep breath to calm herself down and shakes her head. The poor woman was absolutely terrified. It's a good thing we showed up when we did.

"No I'm okay," she replies with a slight quiver in her voice. I'm so glad you two showed up when you did. I thought I was going to die. They said they were sent by-eep!"

The door slides open, frightening the doctor causing her to jump behind me. Garrus and I whirl around guns aimed at the door

...

To see a surprised Allyson Shepard. She takes one look at the blood on my armor and pinches the bridge of her nose.

"How come every time we split up, you end up covered in blood?" she asks exasperated.

"It just seems to end up this way," I reply with a shrug.

Yeah but you could-ugh never mind," she sighs. "We were told to check out this Med Clinic if we were looking for you Detective Garrus. Guess you found him first huh, Lieutenant?"

I wince at the sharp tone her voice takes. She's pissed. Guess she didn't appreciate my disappearing act. I look at Kaidan who just shrugs and gives me one of those 'You're on your own' looks. A look at Ashley tells me she's on Allyson's side.

"Ally-"

"Don't you 'Ally' me!" she snaps. "We got ambushed by assassins outside of Chora's Den. We took care of them easily, but the whole we were talking to Harkin, I was freaking out wondering if you were lying somewhere in a pool of your own blood! You didn't even bother to check in once you'd found out where Garrus was!"

Oh geez, I forgot about the assassins. No wonder she's pissed off.

"Come on Ally, how was I supposed to know Saren would send assassins after us? I didn't think-"

"That's right you didn't think! You never do! This is exactly like that time during Operation Frozen Fire when you snuck off and-"

"If you remember correctly I only did that cause we were pinned down! I ended up saving your ass from-"

"Only after getting shot half a dozen times! You'd have bleed out if reinforcements hadn't arri-"

"Hey! Can you two continue your little lovers' spat later?" Garrus yells interrupting us. "The doctor was going to tell us who sent those men!"

This shuts us both up and causes our faces to burn a vibrant red. The doctor covers her mouth, but isn't quite quick enough to stifle a giggle.

"No, no it is fine," she says with a wave of her hand. "Those men were sent by Fist, but I do not understand. I thought Fist worked for the Shadow Broker. Why would he want me silenced for talking to that poor Quarian?"

"Fist doesn't work for the Shadow Broker anymore," Garrus explains. "He works for Saren. What was it the Quarian wanted with Fist?"

"Fist betrayed the Shadow Broker?" Dr. Michel asked aghast. "That's stupid, even for him. The Quarian, she said she had evidence proving a Council Spectre was a traitor. She'd been shot so she came to me to get patched up. She wanted to trade the information for her safety. Barla Von sent her to Fist, but if he works for this Saren then she could be in danger!"

"We should get going then," Garrus comments. "Commander let me come with you. The Lieutenant can attest to my skills in combat and tech. Saren is a traitor and a disgrace to my people, and as such I want to help take him out. I can't do much here, but with you maybe I can make a difference."

"The more, the merrier Garrus," Allyson replies. "I get the feeling we'll need all the help we can get."

"In that cause let's swing by the C-Sec Academy," Garrus suggests. "There are reports of a Krogan bounty hunter going after Fist. Might be worth taking a look at."

"A Krogan could come in handy," Kaidan comments.

"Ooo goody," Ally chirps gleefully. "Walking tank!"

We all shake our heads at our crazy leader. Chloe loses it and starts giggling. Soon enough the rest of us are laughing at Ally, who is now pouting.

"Well we should get going," I finally say. "Dr. Michel, is there anything else we can do for you?"

"Call me Chloe," she says sweetly. "I'm good for now, but come back anytime Lieutenant. If you need any medical supplies, I mean."

Wait hold up...did she just bat her eyes at me? And now she's blushing. Shit. That's not gonna go over well with-

"We'll be sure to take you up on that offer."

Think of the devil and she'll speak up.

"Come on team," Ally orders. Her voice is still cheerful but now her eyes have a steely look to them. "We have a Krogan to recruit!"

With that we file out of the Med Clinic, each of us saying a brief goodbye to Dr. Michel. Well except for Ally, she just walked right out the door. We head for the stairs to the C-Sec Academy, which are conveniently not too far from the clinic. When we reached the elevator we all piled in and started yet another long ride.

"So Shepard," Garrus piped up, humor in his voice. "Never took you for the jealous type."

The car was silent for a moment, and I saw Ally clench her fists.

"Garrus?" she asks tersely.

"Yes, Shepard?" he asks.

"Do you like keeping your mandibles attached to your face?"

I snicker as he replies, "Uh, yes ma'am."

"Then shut up please," she states sweetly, with a smile that promised pain if he didn't comply.

He nodded looking a little paler, though it could've been my imagination. The rest of the ride was a little awkward. We got out and headed up to the main lobby.

When we got there we caught the tail end of an argument between a C-Sec officer and a Krogan.

"Are you asking to be arrested?" the officer demanded.

"Ha! I'd like to see you try," the Krogan boomed in a deep baritone that seemed to shake the air. Then he noticed us looking at him. "Out of my way weakling."

He stomped up to us and each step made the ground vibrate a little. Jesus fuck Wrex is huge! He's no doubt eight feet tall.

"Wrex?" Allyson asks.

"Who's asking?" he rumbles.

"Lieutenant Commander Allyson Shepard, Alliance Navy."

"We're going after Fist," I interject. "Figured you'd like to tag along."

He turns his full attention to me and bears down on me like a mountain with a temper.

"I wasn't talking to you weakling," he dismisses. "Anyone who needs to use bloody armor to scare his foes is a coward in my books and not worth my time."

"I have three words for you Krogan," I state calmly despite the fact that Wrex, future Overlord of the Krogan, was looming over me. "Removable. Head. Plate."

His eyes widen in shock (and there's even a little fear there too), his before he pins me to a wall by my throat.

"How the hell do you know about that?" he hisses.

"Through a mixture of luck, idiocy, and determination not to get bulldozed by a charging Krogan," I state as nonchalantly as possible in my current predicament. "Hmm, I don't have red yet."

This results in a confused look as he drops me.

"He's got about three or four of those," Ally chimes in.

Now a look of understanding enters his eyes, before they narrow.

"Never tell anyone about that," he growls. "That's the ultimate disgrace for a Krogan. Now as for Fist he's mine. Make sure you don't get in my way and we'll get along just fine. I suggest we leave so we can get this over with."

"Agreed," Ally affirms. "Let's get going, that Quarian could be in trouble."

XXXXX

When we reached Chora's Den it was locked down.

"Looks like someone's expecting us," I comment.

"Good," Wrex gruffs with a toothy grin. "I was hoping for a fight."

Garrus hacks the door and we get ready to breach. Ally counts down from three and when she hits zero the door opens and Wrex and I both charge in with our Barriers up and shotguns ready. Without hesitation we fire on the first two thugs standing behind the bar and they fly back with holes in their chests. Immediately after we start getting shot at. I send a Warp at one of the men and it tears him apart. Guess his shields and armor aren't that great. Meanwhile Wrex has charged another thug, this one a Turian, and blew off his head with his shotgun. At the same time Allyson was sweeping through the other side of the bar with a combination of biotics and gunfire. It was breathtaking to watch. Her emerald eyes gleamed with joy and her hair flew around her in halo of fire as she flared up her biotics to send out a large shockwave.

I'd have stared at her longer, but that split second cost me. I got sideswiped by a Krogan bouncer. I flew back and crashed through a table, knocking the air from my lungs. Pain flared up through my back and ribs and I struggled to regain my breath. Unfortunately the enemy Krogan was bearing down on me with an earth rumbling roar. I forced myself to roll out of the way, despite my protesting back. I scrambled back to my feet and pull my knife free of its sheath.

The Krogan took one look at the knife and started laughing so hard he closed his eyes. That was a mistake he shouldn't have made. I lunged at him and before he could react, I slid the knife up and under his head plate. I twisted the knife and wrenched upward and the plate popped off with a sickening squelching noise. Instantly the Krogan started screaming in pain and dropped to his knees. A shotgun blast later he was headless. I turned from him to notice the fighting was over. Wrex was standing there with a shocked look that he quickly got rid of it. He stormed off towards Fist's office, but I swear I heard him mutter 'Poor bastard.' When the door to the back opened we found two men in the room.

"S-stay back," one orders shakily, his friend nodding his head weakly.

"Now would be a very good time to find a new place to work," Ally states while fiddling with her pistol.

"Y-yeah I never like fist anyways," says the second man. "He's an ass."

As they ran away like the devil was on their heels, Garrus walked over to the door and starts to hack the door to Fist's office.

"Hmph, killing them would've been quicker," Wrex snorts.

"Killing isn't always the answer," I comment.

"That's rich, coming from the Butcher of Torfan," he laughs, shocking me. "That's right boy, I know who you are."

"The actions I committed on Torfan haunts me to this day," I protest hotly. "What I did there was dishonorable, beyond all fucking belief. Then again I wouldn't expect you to understand old man. The Krogan abandoned their honor long ago."

"You wanna say that again, boy?" he growls.

"Knock it the fuck off!" Allyson screams at us. "We've got a Quarian to save, and your petty argument isn't helping matters. So shut the hell up and have your bitch fit later. We've got a thug to deal with."

Properly cowed by her fury, Wrex and I nodded our heads and fell in line.

"Door's open Shepard," Garrus announces.

She gives him a nod and the door slides open. I can tell that the redhead's patience has reached its end when she just strides in and pins Fist to a wall with biotics before he can activate the turrets in his office.

"Don't kill me please!" he pleads. "I'll tell you whatever you want!"

"Just tell me where the Quarian is," Ally commands coolly.

"She wanted to meet with the Shadow Broker so I told that I would-agh!" he started rambling before Shepard broke his knee cap with a pulse of biotics. "Okay, okay, she's in a service alleyway nearby, but you'll never make it in time. The meeting's already started."

I didn't stay to see the outcome of the interaction because I was already out of the door. Bursting into the bar I flung a Shockwave out knocking the new set of thugs off their feet. Rushing out of Chora's Den I set off at a sprint towards the Alley. As I neared I heard the sound of an explosion going off. Tali's proximity mine. Shit they're attacking her already. I double time it and send a command to the door with my Omni-tool to open so I don't have to slow down.

I barrel through the door and Charge right into the Turian assassin who was about to shoot Tali. The Turian goes flying and I wheel around and shoot at the nearest Salarian, collapsing his shields and filling his chest with metal. I hear the roar of a shotgun go off and turn to see the other Salarian hit the ground with a hole in his stomach. Then I walk up to the dazed Turian and stab him with my Omni-blade, preventing him from shooting us in the back.

I hear a shotgun rack and turn to see Tali aiming at me.

"Who are you?" she demands, in her lovable Russian-like accent.

"Staff Lieutenant Michael Barnes, Alliance Marines," I announce. "Heard you were in trouble so I came to help ma'am."

She lowers her gun and lets out a sigh of relief. She becomes less tense than before, as if a weight was dropped off her shoulders.

"Oh Keelah, I thought I was done for," she says. "Thank you for your assistance. How did you know I was here?"

"We found out from fist."

She whirls around in surprise when Allyson's voice joins the conversation. Oh man she does not look happy with me. She marches up to us and smacks me upside the head as hard as she can.

"Jesus fuck Ally!" I yelp in pain. "What the hell is it with you and Gibbs slapping me?"

"What's a Gibbs slap?" Tali questions curiously.

"Don't pay him any attention. He's referencing an old human television show from the 21st century," Ally informs. "Anyway, I'm Lieutenant Commander Allyson Shepard, Alliance Navy. We were searching for evidence to prove guilty a rouge Spectre. That lead us to you, miss...?"

"Tali. Tali'Zorah nar Rayya. And if that's the case then I have the chance to repay you for saving me. But not here, let's go somewhere safer."

"We should go to the human embassy," Kaidan responds. "Captain Anderson and Ambassador Udina will want to see this."

We all nod in agreement and head out to the Presidium.

XXXX

4:00 PM EST  
Citadel Presidium, Human Embassy

After reaching the Ambassador's office we treated to yet more of his bullshit.

"Shepard what the heel do you think you're doing?" he demands in his snobbish voice. "Firefights in the Wards. An all-out assault on Chora's Den. What in god's name were you and your team doing down there? And you Lieutenant. I've gotten reports of shots being fired in a Med Clinic after you were sighted outside of it with a Turian. You two aren't making my job easy. On top of that I see your team has...new additions. Why have you brought aliens to my office, especially a Quarian?"

"Hey our job isn't to make yours easier," I fire back. "And if you had waited instead of jumping down our fucking throats the first chance you got, we would've told your racist ass that this Quarian, whose name is Tali'Zorah nar Rayya by the way, had evidence that will prove Saren a traitor."

Just like that, Udina's attitude does a 180. Suddenly he's all happy to see us and intrigued by Tali. Fucking politician.

"Oh really? Why did you leave the Flotilla? And just what is this evidence you found Miss Rayya?" he asks curiously.

I struggle not to face palm at his cultural faux pas with her name.

"Please just call me Tali," she replies flatly. "I was on my Pilgrimage, my rite of passage into adulthood. I was passing by a planet when I detected a signal coming from the surface. Imagine my surprise when it turned out to be Geth! They haven't ventured past the Perseus Veil since driving my people from our home. I landed and managed to lure one away from a passing patrol. I destroyed it and seized an audio file from its memory banks before it deleted everything."

"Huh, you must be very skilled, even for your species, to get anything from a Geth's memory banks," I compliment. "I thought they purged it all immediately."

"They purge within seconds of deactivating," she replies. "So you have to be quick as well as lucky to get anything. Anyways this is what I found."

She fiddles with her Omni-tool, and a few seconds later Saren's voice came from the device.

"Eden Prime was a major victory. The beacon has brought us closer to finding the Conduit."

"That's Saren's voice!" Anderson exclaims. "This proves he's a traitor!"

"This Conduit sounds like a weapon," I state. "And it sounds like he was talking to someone."

"He was," Tali reveals. "Here listen to the whole thing."

"Eden Prime was a major victory," Saren boasts. "The beacon has brought us one step closer to the Conduit."

"And one step closer to the return of the Reapers."

"I don't recognize the other voice," comments Udina. "The one talking about Reapers."

"Reapers?" I ask feigning surprise. "That's the word that kept repeating in my vision from the beacon!"

"According to the memory bank, the Reapers were a hyper-advanced machine race that existed 50,000 years ago," Tali informs. "They hunted the Protheans to total extinction then vanished without a trace. The Geth revere them as gods."

"Oh the Council is just going to love this," Udina mutters.

"The synthetics from the vision were the Reapers!" Allyson declares. "They're a threat to every species in Citadel space. The Council needs to be told!"

"Regardless of the rest of it, these audio files are proof that Saren is a traitor," Anderson states.

"The Captain's right," Udina agrees. "We need to present this to the Council right away."

"What about her?" Ashley asks in an unpleasant tone. "The Quarian."

"I have a name!" she cries indignantly. "Commander please let me come with you. The Lieutenant can vouch for my combat skills if needed. I wish to help."

"But what about your-"

"Ally if you're about to ask about her Pilgrimage , think for a second," I interrupt. "If she comes with us, she'll no doubt end up fighting Geth. Somewhere along the way she'll end up finding something that will no doubt make a great gift to bring back to her people."

"How did you know about that?" she asks in shock.

"Omnipedia," is the reply from Allyson, Kaidan, Anderson, and I.

I frown and glare at them, while Ally addresses Tali. "As long as you're sure, you're welcome to come along, though it is up to Captain Anderson."

Said man gives a nod, but I can tell it's half-hearted. He must've already been informed that if Shepard and I become Spectres, he'll have to step down from the command of the Normandy.

"Anderson and I will go ahead and get things ready with the Council," Udina states. "Take a few minutes to collect yourselves and then meet us at the Tower. Oh and Commander? Only bring two of your team."

With that, he and Anderson walk out of the office. The rest of us let out frustrated sighs.

"Anyone else here feel the desire to hit that bastard?" I ask.

Everyone gives an answer indicating yes.

"Alright, since I really don't want to listen to him bitch here's what we're going to do," Ally announces. "Ashley, Michael, and I will be going to meet with the Council. Kaidan, I want you to bring Tali, Garrus, and Wrex back to the Normandy to get them settled. Anyone got any questions? No? Okay let's go."

XXXXX

The trip there was thankfully uneventful. Well except for when Ashley and I dragged Allyson into a Transit cab kicking and screaming. She stopped once we were in the air, though I'm pretty sure that's because she was terrified beyond all reasonable explanation. As soon as we landed in the Citadel Tower she bolted out of the car and ran up the steps to get away from it. The whole way up to the Council Ashley and I are dying from laughter. When we reach the top we've gotten ourselves under control again, just in time to meet Captain Anderson.

"Come on, Udina's presenting the evidence the evidence right now," Anderson says.

We walk on to the podium as the audio file plays Saren's voice, followed by the second voice, for all to here.

"You wanted your proof there it is!" declares Udina smugly.

"This evidence is irrefutable Ambassador," Councilor Sparatus, the Turian, states begrudgingly. "Saren will be stripped of his Spectre status, and all efforts will be made to ensure that he answers for his crimes."

"I recognize the other voice, the one speaking with Saren," says Tevos, the Asari Councilor. "Matriarch Benezia."

"Great," I scoff. "Another traitor."

"Matriarch Benezia is a powerful biotic and has many followers," Tevos informs us. "She will be a powerful ally for Saren."

"I'm more interested in these Reapers," interjects the Salarian Councilor, Valern. "What do you know of them?"

"Only what was extracted from the Geth's memory core," Anderson admits. "The Reapers were a super-advanced machine race that hunted the Protheans to extinction then vanished."

"The Geth think the Reapers are gods, and that Saren is the Prophet of their return," adds Ally.

"Apparently the Conduit is the key to bringing them back," Anderson continues. "That's why Saren attacked Eden Prime."

"Are we even sure what this Conduit is?" Valern asks?

"Saren thinks it can bring the Reapers back, so that's bad enough," Ally responds.

"Listen to what you're all saying," scoffs Sparatus. "Saren wants to bring back machines that wiped out all life in the galaxy? Impossible. It has to be. Where did the Reapers vanish to? How come we found no evidence of their existence?"

"If you were to commit a mass xenocide would you want to leave evidence it was you?" I ask skeptically. "They probably went through and destroyed every bit of evidence they found that showed they ever existed."

"Regardless, if they were real we'd have found something." Wow he's a stubborn prick.

"We warned you about Saren and look at how that turned out," Ally tells them. "Please don't make the same mistake with this."

"This is different," Tevos explains calmly. "With Saren you had evidence, with the Reapers there's none."

"If I may Councilors," I say aloud catching everyone's attention. "From what I've read on reports of Prothean technology. Their beacons were made to interact with the users mind. These 'visions' (that's right I used air quotes!) that we've had are merely stored information that was shoved into our brains by force. If you want to look for yourselves many of the papers I've read have come from Thessia's own Erana University.

"Now I've brought this up because from what I can understand of the information is was all about the Reapers. In fact the word Reapers was repeated throughout the whole thing like it was a warning."

"Hmm, you may be right Lieutenant Barnes," Tevos admits thoughtfully. "We will look into it then. Now the question is what to do about Saren."

Holy shit...did that actually work? Well we'll see if anything cones from it but until then I won't hold my breath. Oops looks like I zoned out a bit.

"A fleet cannot find one man," Valern admonishes Udina for the suggestion.

"Maybe not but they can lock down the region," Udina tries to reason. "Keep the Geth from attacking anymore of our colonies."

"Or it'll drag us into a confrontation with the Terminus Systems. We won't cause a war over a few dozen human colonies," Sparatus scoffs as though the concept is laughable.

"Everytime time humanity asks for help you brush us off like we're a second class species!" Allyson yells harshly.

"Shepard's right!" Udina agrees loudly, before pointing at the Council. "I'm sick of this Council and its anti-human bullshi-"

"Ambassador, please," Tevos interrupts calmly. "There is a solution. One that does not require fleets or armies."

Tevos glances over to Sparatus who angrily shakes his head.

"No!" he denies adamantly. "It's too soon. Humanity is not ready for the responsibilities that come with being a Spectre!"

"Hey look at it this way," I interject nonchalantly. "You don't have to send in the fleet and the Ambassador gets those human Spectres he wanted for Christmas. Woohoo everybody wins!"

Next to me I hear Ally snicker as I watch Sparatus reluctantly nod his head. Tevos smiles before each Councilor reaches out and selects something on the consoles in front of them.

"Commander Shepard, Lieutenant Barnes step forward," she orders calmly.

We do as told and stand at attention. In front of us a screen pops up surprising me a little. This was new.

"It is the decision of the Council that you be granted all the privileges of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance branch of the Citadel," Tevos states.

"Spectres are not trained, but chosen," Valern adds. "Warriors forged in the fire of battle, those whose actions have risen them above the rank and file."

"Spectres are an ideal," Tevos continues. "A symbol. The embodiment of courage, determination, and self-reliance. They are the right hand of the Council, instruments of our will."

"Spectres bear a great burden," Sparatus informs us. "They are protectors of galactic peace and tranquility. Both out first and last line of defense. The safety of the galaxy is theirs to uphold."

"To be inducted, one must first recite the oath of Spectrehood," Valern tells us.

They again press something on their consoles as one and the screen before Ally and I comes to life, filling with words that translate themselves into English. We take a breath and speak as one.

"I am the watcher on the wall. I am the one that stands against the chaos of the galaxy. I fight that others may sleep peacefully. I kill that others' hands may remain clean.

There is nowhere I cannot go, there is nothing that is not permitted in the name of safety for my people. My soul is blackened and I am cast out, for I am the shadow that stalks the dark places. I am retribution for the weak and vengeance for the strong. Whether in the halls of power or the slums of the poor, I am the master of my domain.

First in battle, last in retreat, I will hold the line. I was not born but made, on a hundred battlefields in a thousand desperate situations. I have triumphed over all, for I am the best there ever was and the best there ever will be. I am death, I am destruction, I am salvation and ruin.

I am a Council Spectre, and on my watch, the Citadel will never fall. May the enemies of order know only fear, may those that would shatter our accord know only death. For I am a Spectre, and I shall man the wall."

"Congratulations, Commander, Lieutenant," Tevos praise. "You are the first Human Spectres. This is both a great achievement for yourselves individually and for your species."

"We're honored Councilor," we say together, bowing our heads.

"We're sending you into the Traverse after Saren," Valern remarks. "He is a fugitive from justice so you are authorized to use any means necessary to apprehend or eliminate him."

"Would you have any ideas on where to start Councilors?" I ask.

"We will forward any relevant files to Ambassador Udina," Sparatus comments, sounding like he'd love to leave.

"This meeting of the Council is adjourned," Tevos announces.

And just like that I'm a Spectre. Holy shit! I'm a god damned Spectre! Well let's see how things play out with two new human Spectres in play.

* * *

**Whew, what a long chapter! I hope you guys enjoyed that longer chapter, it was fun to write! Unfortunately because of school I have to change to updating every other week. Oh yes before I forget, the Spectrehood Oath comes from the story '_And the Meek Shall Inherit the Galaxy_' by the incredible author Full-Paragon. Head on over to his profile and check out his works. So anywho, as always review, point out mistakes, don't air quote at me, and have a nice couple of weeks! Later!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Welcome back to yet more Mass Reality! I am so sorry that I forgot to update the story last week. To make it up to you, today I'm going to post two chapters. So go on and enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Mass Effect and all related items and plots belong to Bioware. I own nothing, and do not claim to. The only thing I own is my own character (me).**

* * *

Chapter Nine: Weigh Anchor

Saturday, April 12, 2183

4:30 PM EST

Citadel Tower

After the Council adjourned Captain Anderson congratulated us both. As Udina talked about needing a ship and supplies I could see the wheels turning in his head. He's thinking about the Normandy. Captain Anderson tells us that we should meet with the Spectre Requisitions Officer at the C-Sec Academy. Then Udina pulls him away to start working on setting things up. Not even a thank you. Go figure. Damn politicians.

Ashley and I have no luck getting Ally back in the Transit cab, as she bolts straight past it towards the elevator. Because of this we end up walking. Damn her and her irrational fear!

Oh it also turns out she's a bleeding heart! Ya know all those little side missions you can pick up in the game. Yeah, so far every person she's talked to that gives you one, she's agreed to help them out. Even the Keeper scanning guy! She wanted to detour so she could track down 20 of the damn things! I convinced her not to thankfully but still. I can tell this is gonna be soo much fun.

XXXXX

So about an hour later after she's done running around collecting a jillion odd jobs for us to do, we finally reach the C-Sec Academy. During that hour all we really managed to do was scan about and help out Samesh Bhatia. Helping the man get his wife's body back left me thinking that the 'side missions' aren't so bad after all. Just time consuming. When we reach the Requisitions Officer, the Turian looks up at us. Then he looks back at his computer display and punches is a few commands.

"One second, looking you up," he says concentrating on the screen in front of him. "Ah yes, Commander Allyson Shepard. You're with the Alliance Military. Second time on the Citadel is that about right?"

"How do you know that?" she asks suspiciously.

"It's my job to know," he replies simply. " I have to make sure our buyers are authorized. So will you be purchasing anything today Commander?"

"Yup," she states popping the 'p' before gesturing at me. "So will the Lieutenant here."

"Ah yes, Lieutenant Michael Barnes, also Alliance Military," he remarks after checking my clearance. "It's your second time on the Citadel too, right?"

"Yes, that's right," I reply with a nod.

"Okay, just let me set you two up-" he pauses in looks in the screen in disbelief. "This can't be right. It's saying to offer you our select stock...Spectres. Well I heard about that but I didn't know it was you two. Sorry about that."

"Nah, it's fine," I say with a wave of my hand. "Can we see what ya got for us?"

"Sure thing."

He puts his hand on the screen and the wall to our right spins open to reveal that it was full of weapons.

Ally's eyes lit up like a kid in a candy shop. She stood there, mouth open slightly and eyes wandering unable to decide on which one to get. While she was still debating I walked over to the wall snatched an M-77 Paladin off the wall.

"I'll take this one," I inform the officer.

"Excellent that'll be 200,00 credits," the Turian says with a smile.

I pale a little before I remember the Alliance is actually footing the bill for this one. "The Alliance is covering the costs today."

"Ah yes, makes sense seeing as you're their first Spectres," he comments. "Commander Shepard, have you decided yet?"

"I want these ones," she says gleefully.

My face pales again when I see what she's holding. In one hand she's holding an HMWSR Master Sniper Rifle. However that's not what concerns me. What concerns me is the fact that she's holding an ML-77 missile launcher. I didn't even know those were around at the time of the first game! The worst part is I know there's nothing anyone could say to convince her other-

"I'm sorry Shepard, but I've been informed to specifically not sell you explosives of that level."

Saved by the Turian.

Wait...

Oh geez she's pulling out the puppy dog pout. Her eyes are all watery and her bottom is quivering. Please don't work on Turians. Please don't work on Turians. Please don't work on-

"Yeah that doesn't work on me," the officer dead pans.

Yes!

"Aww...but...but, fine," Ally sighs, stomping her foot.

As she storms by I hear her mutter, "You guys suck. I don't get to have any fun. Hmph, I didn't want it that bad anyways."

She storms out of the office despite the officer's protests about paying for the rifle.

"Like I said before, just charge it to the Alliance," I comment as I turn to leave. "Catch ya later. We better go catch up to the Commander before she does something like break an elevator."

As we walk through the hallway they lead to the main hub of the academy I hear Ashley ask, "Break an elevator? How in the hell could she-"

"By trying to hack it to make it go faster," I interrupt. "She ends up frying the circuitry."  
Just then we hear a scream of frustration.

"Come on you stupid thing! Move faster!"

"That sounded like Shepard," Ashley noted.

Without responding I break into a run shoving my way through a crowd of C-Sec officers. I make it through just in time to catch Ally activating her Omni-tool. I'm next to her in an instant gripping her right arm to prevent her putting in commands.

"Ally can you please not fry the elevator?" I ask sternly.

"I wasn't gonna-" a glare from me stops her. "Fine I promise not to fry any more elevators. Besides its here now, so let's go. I got a message from Udina to meet him at the Normandy."

I nod and follow her into the elevator. As the elevator starts rising crappy elevator music started playing. Almost 200 years in the future and they can't make better elevator music. In fact not only are they slower but the music is worse. It's like they're trying to torture us.

"Gah! Why won't this fucking thing go faster!" Allyson screams.

Now normally I'd just ignore her, but it's been a long day. And unfortunately for me I've reached that level of tiredness where I have trouble thinking about what I say.

"Jesus fuck Ally, what's gotten into you today. Is it your time of the month?"

XXXXXAllyson's POVXXXXX

"Ah Shepard, there you are," Captain Anderson greeted me. "We've been waiting for you and...where's the Lieutenant?"

I jab by thumb over my shoulder towards the curled up form of Lieutenant Michael Barnes. He was writhing on the floor of the elevator after receiving a biotic punch to the gut from moi. I mean the man was cute and all. With his hazel eyes, his curly brown hair, caring tenor voice, and those muscles...wait stop bad Allyson. God it's almost like I'm a schoolgirl again. Fucking butterflies. Anyways, where was I? Oh yeah the man's cute and all but there's times when he just doesn't think before he speaks. Like just now. So what if I started my time of the month. He doesn't need to be a dick about it, and announce it to the whole world. Williams is still laughing about the way I reacted. I motion for her to go drag his sorry ass out of the elevator.

"Did the Lieutenant put his foot in his mouth again?" Anderson asks with a sigh.

"Uh yes, sir," I answer, not wanting to have this conversation. The migraine coming on was making me admittedly ornery. "He'll be fine. So what's the status on my ship, sir. You said you'd found me one."

"Ah yes, well I have good news for you Shepard," Udina announced in that snide tone of his, completely acting as if Michael wasn't even existent. "Captain Anderson is stepping down as the commanding officer of the Normandy. The ship is yours now."

"She quick and quiet, plus you both know the crew," Anderson tells me. "The perfect ship for a pair of Spectres. Treat her well."

I hear a groan off to my right and look to see Michael back on his feet. I have to give it to him, he recovers fast.

"Captain this feels wrong," he groans, still rubbing his sore stomach. "Almost like we're stealing the ship from you."

"I agree, sir," I state, not liking this at all. "I want the truth. Why are you stepping down, sir?"

"You needed your own ship. Spectres can't answer to anyone but the Council," he states, before looking down with a sigh. "And it's time I stepped down."

"Come clean with us Captain," Michael says. "You owe us that much."

I look over at him and see this look in eyes. I've noticed it before, it's almost like he knows the answer to what he's asking. Just like always it's gone as soon as it appears.

"I was in your shoes once, twenty years ago," Anderson concedes. "I was a Spectre candidate at one time, and I blew my chance at being accepted."

"Does this have anything to do with how Saren reacted to you at the trial?" my fellow Spectre questions, before snapping his fingers. "Aha! He was your evaluator, wasn't he? And seeing how big of an asshole he is when it comes to humans, he must've sabotaged your chance."

"Right in one again, Lieutenant," the captain chuckles with an amused smile. "How you connect the dots like that, I'll never understand."

"Don't know what to tell you, sir," he says with a cocky grin. "Guess I'm just that good."

This gets a good laugh out of Anderson. "That you are son, that you are. I was sent on a mission and he made damn sure I didn't make it.  
At the word 'son' I again see a flash of emotion in his eyes. It's like a mixture of grief and longing. I'm beginning to think his amnesia is lifting. He's always skirted around the issue, ever since I met him at that hospital. Maybe I can get some answers from him over the course of this mission.

"Ally you okay over there?" asks Michael, snapping me out of my thoughts. "You're looking kinda spacey."

"Um yeah I'm good," I respond. "Sorry did I miss anything?"

"I was telling the Lieutenant here about the leads the Council forwarded to us," Anderson states. "Our colony on Ferros, Zhu's Hope, has recently dropped out of contact, after a Geth sighting was reported. There's also been rumors about sightings of Geth near Noveria. These are your best bet. Don't even bother tracking down Saren. He's gone. But find the where the Conduit is, and you'll find him too."

"Aye, aye sir," I state. "I'll find it and stop this bastard.

"We have one more lead for you Shepard," Udina interjects, once again only addressing me. "The second voice from the recording, Matriarch Benezia, she had a daughter. Liara, Dr. Liara Tsoni. She's an expert on Protheans. She was last seen at an archeological dig somewhere in the Artemis Tau Cluster. We unfortunately don't know whose side she's on."

Hmm, Tsoni sounds like a good starting point. She could have information on Benezia. I voice my opinion and Anderson shrugs his shoulders.

"It's up to you now Commander," he comments. "You answer to the Council now, not us."

"Just remember, your actions reflect on humanity as a whole," Udina says in that awful snide tone of his. "You make a mess, and I get stuck cleaning it up."

"Udina, I've always wanted to say this, but I've never had, well, I guess the authority to be able to," Michael starts, eyes becoming steely. "I don't give a _fuck,_ about what we cause you to do. It's your fucking job. Our job is to take down the bastard known as Saren by any means necessary. So take your petty little concerns, and shove the up your _ass_. Ya know if the ten foot pole will accommodate it."

"How dare-"

"See you on the ship Allyson," he states firmly, cutting off the Ambassador.

With that he stormed off, leaving Ashley and I laughing our asses off while Anderson struggles to keep a straight face.

"I have to get to a meeting," Udina growls. "Anderson can answer any questions you may have."

With that he stormed off in a huff. Ashley, still laughing, mentions shed heading into the Anderson shakes his head, and turns towards me. He raises his hand to me and smiles.

"Well Shepard it's time you be on your way," he says warmly. "It's been an pleasure."

"It's been an honor serving under you Captain," I say trying to keep the emotion out of my voice. "I'll do you proud."

I grip his hand only to be pulled in for a bear hug. It shocks me but I give in and hug the man back. Ever since he saved me on Mindoir, David Anderson has grown to be like a father to me, filling the void of the one I saw slaughtered by Batarian slavers.

"You stay safe out there Red, you hear?" he whispers, voice full of concern. "And keep an eye on that Lieutenant. Don't need him putting his foot in his mouth during anything important. Oh and watch out for Tali. She seemed to be warning up to Lieutenant Barnes quite a bit."

I feel a flash of jealousy rip through me, and it must've shown in my eyes because the next thing I know there's this twinkle in his eyes. Then booming laughter filled the docking bay. I realized he pulled a fast one on me and I slapped the man's chest.

"David!" I squeal, feeling my face begin to burn. "I don't...Why would you...How did you..."

"Red, you aren't the most subtle person when you flirt," he chuckles, making my face grow even hotter. "He's a good man, Red. Just make sure you both make it through this. Oh and one more thing to keep in mind: Spectres lie outside the chain of command."

With that he walked away and into the waiting elevator. What did that last part have to do with- wait a second. Outside the chain of command. That means Alliance regs don't apply to Michael and I. This thought makes me smirk. While I know I have to focus on this mission first and foremost, he can't pull the regulation card on me anymore.

Oh this is gonna be fun.

XXXXXMichael's POVXXXXX

I just laid down on my rack when I hear the VI through the loudspeaker.

"The Commanding Officer is aboard, XO Pressly stands relieved."

Huh, she must've stayed out to ask Anderson about his past with Saren. She always did want as many details as possible when it came to people. Just look at me. I can tell it frustrates her to no end that she doesn't know about my past, amnesia be damned. Suddenly I'm jolted from my thoughts when the loudspeakers crackle to life.

"This Commander Shepard speaking. We have our orders, find Saren before he finds the Conduit. I won't lie to you crew, this mission isn't gonna be easy," Ally announces, now in full on commander mode. "For too long our species has stood apart from the others. Now it's time to step up and do our part for the rest of the galaxy; time to show them what humans are made of.

"Our enemy knows we're coming. When we go into the Traverse, Saren's followers will be waiting for us, but we'll be ready for them too," she continues fiercely. "Humanity needs to do this, not just for our own sake, but for the sake of every other species in Citadel space. I promise you all we will stop him. Will you follow?"

Throughout the ship a loud roar responds to her question, my voice included. "OOHRAH!"

"Then let's track us down a traitor!"

Damn. Just...damn. I know she's portrayed as charismatic, but this is just something else. If I wasn't sure before, I know now I'd follow her into hell itself. When she speaks, something about her tone just makes you want to follow. It sets a fire within you, one that warms and energizes you. I may be her partner in this endeavor, but I am not the leader. I doubt I will ever get people to follow me the same way as she does.

My Omni-tool beeps alerting me to a new message. The contact information doesn't show. Strange.

_Hello Michael,_  
_I'm sure right now you're excited about setting out to stop Saren with Shepard, well actually you're probably thinking it's strange this message has no contact information, but I digress. I'm contacting you now to warn you. Don't attempt to change too much, or there may be dire consequences for the future. Anywho have fun on Therum, you're gonna be on the ground team!_  
_Sincerely,_  
_D_

I stare at the message in shock barely registering the ship shudder as the magnetic clamps disengage and we pull away from the Citadel. After seven years of believing it was a fluke I'm here, I receive a message indicating otherwise.

Someone knows I'm not from here, and I'm guessing that they're the reason I'm here.

* * *

**So there you go. There's the end of chapter nine. Anyways as always, review, point out mistakes, don't send assassins after me, and have an awesome day.**


	10. Chapter 10

**So here's the second chapter, just like I promised. I hope you all enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: Mass Effect and all related items and plots belong to Bioware. I own nothing, and do not claim to. The only thing I own is my own character (me).**

* * *

Chapter Ten: To save the Doctor

Monday, April 14, 2183

Normandy, Crew Quarters

I'm awoken gently by a whisper, as warm breath brushed against my ear.

"Mikey, wake up."

I feel something weigh me down, and my eyes flutter open to see Allyson straddling my waist. Her green eyes shining with playfulness as she grins coyly. Her red hair like a halo of fire falling around her shoulders.

"Allie wha-?" I start to ask before she puts a finger to my lips, shaking her head.

She walks the fingers of her right hand up my bare chest, moving her left hand to the side of my head. Her right hand goes on the other side of my head and she lowers herself so her lips brush against my ear.

"I figured you'd like a nicer wake up call this time," she whispers seductively, causing my heartbeat to skyrocket.

She raises her head and stares into my eyes, biting her bottom lip a little before leaning in to kiss me. Her lips brush against mine softly-

BEEP BEEP BEEP

I shoot straight up in bed, breathing heavily as my heart hammers in my chest. God damn it, it was a dream. I glare at the current bane of my existence trying to figure out why it was blaring at me. I don't remember setting an alarm. It took me a second to realize I had a call coming in. I quickly punch the answer button, and immediately the caller starts talking.

"Geez it's about time you answered, I was coming down to throw you out of bed. "

It would be the object of my dream waking me up. Gah, even when she doesn't mean to she's a tease!

"Don't you mean you were coming down if I didn't answer my Omni-tool?" I ask tiredly, climbing out of bed.

"Nope!" I whirl around and she's standing there in...her pajamas?

I take a look at my Omni-tool to see it's only 1:45 am EST. We weren't due to reach the Artemis Tau cluster for another nine hours.

"Allie, why in the hell, would you wake me up at this time of the night?" I inquire wearily. "You should be asleep yourself, we'll both need our energy for the mission."

She rubs her left arm, an action I've come to associate with her being uncomfortable, while biting her lip a bit. I notice that her hair is thrown into a messy ponytail.

"I uh, couldn't sleep," she admits softly, looking down at the floor. "I kept seeing the vision from the beacon. I thought it might've kept you up too. That and everyone else is asleep. You don't mind do you?"

Her last question is accentuated by her brushing a strand of hair behind her ear and glancing up at me. I wasn't about to say no to her now. I sigh and run a hand through my hair, briefly noting it was getting to the point where I needed a cut.

"Yeah it's fine Allie," I state. "Here you sit on the bed, I'll be good with the chair."

She looks a little unsure, but she walks over and gets on the bed. I turn to sit in the chair, but she grabs my hand and pulls me back.

"Sit with me," she whispers. "Please."

This shocks me. I've never seen her look so vulnerable before, and it dawns on me that she didn't just see the vision.

"Allie, you saw more than just the vision didn't you?" I ask softly, sitting down next to her. "Which was it: Mindoir or Akuze?"

"Elysium actually," she says softly. "So much happened, so. They call me a hero for what I did there, yet I can't see why. So many people died because I couldn't save them. I see the faces of everyone I failed, looking at me with hate in their eyes. It was worse this time. This time they turned into those husk things and attacked those I cared about. I couldn't do anything but watch. Then this awful, booming voice told me I was doomed to fail this mission. Mikey, I- I don't know if I can do-"

Smack!

She looks at me in shock, holding her face where I slapped her. Tears shined in her eyes from the pain, and she took on a confused visage.

"Allyson Danielle Shepard, don't even think about finishing that sentence," I scold, determined not to let her succumb to all that she's been put through. "You are a hero to Elysium because your actions saved the entire colony. You're right you didn't save everyone, but you couldn't have. That's not your fault, it's those fucking Batarians who're to blame. You faced overwhelming odds and still came out on top, doing the impossible. Which is just what you always do. At sixteen you endured through the slave raid on Mindoir, and came out alive, accomplishing the impossible. On Akuze, you faced an entire nest of Thresher Maws and survived, doing the impossible again. Just yesterday you became one of the first Human Spectres, a feat many thought impossible so soon after us entering the galactic community. Now with Saren, you're gonna do it again. We will catch him and put him down. I know that no matter what he throws at us, we'll overcome it because of you. So don't give up on yourself Red, because I know I never will."

Tears streaming down her face, she just smiles and nods. She leans against me and puts her head on my shoulder. I hear her mutter a thank you, and a minute later her breathing gets deeper indicating she's fallen asleep. I chuckle softly and shake my head. Knowing Allie, tomorrow she'll act like this never happened and put on a brave face for the rest of the crew. After all she is Commander Shepard, and Commander Shepard never fails. I prefer her to be emotional rather than have it seem like nothing bothers her. It shows that she's human.

I gently get up, using my biotics to ensure she doesn't move. I Lift her up and place her under the covers. While keeping her upright, I carefully pull her hair from its ponytail and watch as it spills down to her back. I lay her down and pull the covers over her. I climb on top of the covers next to her and lie down. She's so beautiful when she's asleep, and she looks so peaceful. I kiss her gently, taking in the scent of strawberries coming from her hair, and sigh softly.

"Good night, Allie," I whisper lovingly.

In her sleep she smiles, and moves closer to me under the sheets. I just chuckle again and close my eyes, allowing myself to drift back off to sleep.

XXXXX

10:25 am EST

I reawaken to the sound of giggling. My eyes open to be greeted by a pair of emerald ones that were really close. After the mini heart attack, I move my head back a bit to see Allie smiling at me.

"You snore kinda loud," she laughs. "It's kinda funny."

I feel my face grow warm, yet I don't look away like I usually would.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I deny humorously. "You have no proof."

"Oh yeah?" she asks, scooting closer. "So this Omni-tool recording isn't proof?"

I scoot closer too so now our noses touch. "That could be anyone on that recording, Red."

Her smile takes on a teasing look "Oh but it's a video recording, Mikey. By the way you look cute in your sleep."

I smirk and make to close the distance completely, the only thoughts in my mind revolving around kissing her. I see her eyes start to close, and I can tell she's waiting for me to kiss her. Our lips are just about to touch when someone bangs on the door, causing us to jolt apart.

"Barney, Joker says we'll be arriving at the Artemis Tau cluster in half an hour," Alenko's voice yells through the door.

"Yeah I'll be up soon!" I yell back.

I hear his footsteps leading away from the door, and I sigh in relief.

"I uh, I should go get ready," Allie stammers. "Um, th-thanks for letting me sleep here. Your bed's more comfortable then the one in the my room. I mean- it's- I- oh fuck it I'm just gonna leave now."

She rushes out of the room, leaving me sitting on my bed feeling confused. What just happened? One second she's getting ready to kiss me, then Kaidan shows up, and she's booking it out the door. Fuck.

Whatever I'll deal with it later. Right now I have a mission to get ready for.

XXXXXAllyson's POVXXXXX

I manage to make it back to my room without anyone asking me weird questions. I slide down to the floor once my door closes and run my hands through my hair.

Gah! I could fucking kill Kaidan right now! I appreciate him doing his job, but still. I'm like 99.9% sure Michael was about to kiss me. Then to make matters worse I freak out and run! Who does that? 'I should go get ready?' That's seriously all I could think of? I know I flirt and tease him a lot, but everyone has their limit. What if he does get tired of it? What if this was the last straw for him? Grr, too many what ifs. Thinking like this isn't gonna help anything. For now I have a mission to worry about. Hopefully I can clear things up with Michael later.  
XXXXX

When everyone is gathered in the conference room, I stand up to address them.

"Alright team, our objective is to find Dr. Liara Tsoni," I announce. "Her current whereabouts are unknown, only that she's somewhere with in the Artemis Tau cluster. We don't know for sure whether or not she is hostile, but seeing as her mother is with Saren, we go in assuming she is. Now then either way we look at it there's gonna be Geth ground side. The only difference will be whether they're there to capture her or protect her. So I'm gonna need tech specialists. Tali your people built these things so consider yourself on the ground team. Garrus you're coming too. Michael and I will be the biotic support on this one. Everyone else can just hang out up in the ship. You get to have some down time. Now then, anyone have any guesses as to where the hell to start?"

"How about the Knossos system?" Michael suggests, not sounding all that thrilled to be there.

"It's as good a start as any," I state shrugging my shoulders. "Any reason why, though?"

"Meh, it's feeling like a K sort of day today," he replies with a shrug, his voice slightly harder. Although he doesn't look at me, I can tell what he's thinking. Guess he is upset. Damn it. "Did ya get that Joker?"

"Aye, aye commander. ETA is about six minutes," the pilot announces.

"Alright guys, those on the ground team suit up," I order. "The rest of you can do whatever want. Just try not to break my ship. That means you Wrex."

Said Krogan just laughs and is the first out the door. Everyone else filters out after him. I turn to try and catch Michael, only to see he managed to make it out of the room. I heave a heavy sigh, staring at the seat he was sitting in.

"I fucked up big time, huh?" I ask myself out loud. "God I hate apologizing. He's worth it though. Guess I should go suit up myself...I really need to stop talking to myself."

Without wasting another second, I turn and walk out of the door.  
XXXXXMichael's POVXXXXX

I shimmer back into view, tactical deactivating. Well I feel like shit. It wasn't fair of me to react like that. I always did take things too personally. Now I've hurt her feelings and she obviously didn't mean to just bolt like that. She must've freaked out, thinking Kaidan would go to her room next. It was a smart move. We don't need rumors starting amongst the crew...anymore than there already are. Sighing I shake my head and leave the room to head down to the cargo bay. By the time I reach the elevator I'm deep in thought and I walk in and press the button to activate the elevator car without glancing at the person next to me. A small noise from the person causes me to look up, and then freeze when I see who it is. It turns out to be Allie.

Well this is awkward.

We stand there in awkward silence for a few seconds before blurting out what was on our minds.

"I'm sorry!" we shout at the same time.

"I shouldn't have run out on you!" "I shouldn't have been so cold to you!" we again yell simultaneously.

"Wait, what?" Now this was getting annoying.

She puts a hand over my mouth so she can speak. "I shouldn't have run out on you like that," she admits. "It was rude, but I kinda freaked out. I'm not used to being on the receiving end of moments like that. Right now we both have to focus on the mission, but I wouldn't mind talking about it later."

She smiles sweetly and bats her eyes at me, causing my mind to go blank. All I can do is nod yes, making her smile wider and brighter. She spins back to the elevator door just as it begins to open and walks out with a slight spring in her step. I shake my head to clear it and stride out after her.

XXXXX

11:00 am EST

Normandy Cargo Bay

"Hey Commander, I'm picking up an anomaly from the planet Therum," Joker announces over the loud-speaker. "Seems like there's Geth activity planet side, signals match those from Eden Prime."

"Excellent, take us in Joker," Allie orders. "We're dropping down in the Mako."

"Uh, what exactly does she mean by 'drop down in?'" Tali asks nervously.

"Yeah I was wondering about that to," Garrus comments, mandibles twitching in a nervous manner.

"Come on guys get in the Mako," Allyson orders gleefully, skipping towards the tank like a little kid.

"Uh Allie I think I should drive," I suggest, only to be ignored.

We follow her into Mako where she orders Garrus into the turret, since he's spent the entirety of his time on the ship thus far calibrating the damn thing. Tali she has monitoring the shields and other...techy readout stuff...hey I'm no engineer. Don't expect me to know what it's called. Anyways, Joker's voice comes through the speakers announces that we reached the drop zone.

"Lower the cargo bay door," Allie commands.

"Oh so we're just going to drive down the ramp on to the ground, right?" Tali asks sounding relieved.

"Yeah something like that," Allie says cheerfully.

"Oh thank KeelAHHHH!"

Her prayer of relief turns into a scream of terror when the Mako roars to life Allie slams the gas sending flying down the ramp into nothing but thin air.

"WOOHOO!" Allie and I scream delightedly.

The vehicle shakes and shudders around us, and we're pressed back into our seats by the gee forces generated by the speed we're falling. I reach over to my Omni-tool, bring up my playlist, and the Mako fills with the sound of Heavy Metal by Sammy Hagar. Awesome music to rocket towards the ground in.

"Really Michael!?" Allie yells over the music. "Heavy Metal was your choice?"

"What you have chosen!?" I yell back, ignoring the confusion emanating from our resident Quarian.

"Well obviously Shoot to Thrill!" she hollers back as though it's the most obvious thing in the world, complete with an eye roll.

"Okay I'll give you that one!" I concede.

"What in the Spirit's name are you two talking about?!" Garrus asks loudly from sounding completely baffled.

"Music!" we both scream back.

Then Allie slams her hand on a button causing us to decelerate rapidly. I slam forward harshly, thanking anyone listening for the safety harness. A few minutes later the whole vehicle stops shuddering and the feeling of falling comes to a stop. I give the crazy redhead driving a 'what the fuck' look.

"Hehe oops," she chuckles sheepishly. "Almost forgot the thrusters."

I stare at her blankly while trying, and failing, to wrap my head around that statement. "How do you- why would- don't you- ugh you know what never mind."

"Hey Commander I'm picking up some strange readings, like off the damn charts," announces Joker through the Mako's comms. "It's coming from a couple clicks east of the drop zone. Might be worth checking out."

"Oh Keelah, I'm glad that's over," Tali sighs in relief, having settled down from the fall.

"Don't relax just yet, I've heard her driving is horrendous," I comment, earning an especially hard slug to the shoulder from Allyson.

"It can't be that horrible, right?" Garrus inquires.

XXXXX

1:27 pm EST

Therum

"Garrus, to answer your question from earlier, it was actually much worse than I expected."

The past couple of hours were filled with Allyson gunning the Mako at top speed over narrow paths crossing lava, around tight corners, and even over Geth Armatures. She just ran smack into the damn things! Then there was the part where she wanted to charge the encampment as though the tank was invulnerable to fire from four missile turrets. Thankfully we convinced her not to. Now we've reached a portion of the road that has been blocked off by a rockslide.

"I can make it."

"Allie you're not gonna make it up the damn thing," I sigh in exasperation. "The rocks are too loose."

"Maybe if I go faster I can make it," she mutters, completely ignoring me.

So she guns it, the Mako gets halfway up and then everything goes sideways. Somehow she managed to flip the Mako on its side when it's supposed to be designed to be impossible to do so.

"So, uh maybe we should walk," she chuckles nervously.

"Ya think?" I ask shortly.

"Yeah, yeah, less being snipity and more getting out of the tank," she replies.

Everyone climbs out of the vehicle. Without needing to be ordered weapons are drawn, and we continue on down the path. The path opens into a wide open area...occupied by a lot of Geth. Before we're spotted we duck into cover.

Allyson starts hammering out a plan, telling us what to do. Of course I'm ignoring her in favor of of fiddling with my Omni-tool's mini-fabricator. In a matter of seconds a shielding mod is assembled. I reach over my shoulders, hit the latch button, and pop off the back plate of my armor. Now I have everyone's attention, though I continue with what I was doing. I pry off the hatch to the shield compartment and insert the mod into its corresponding slot. Instantly my shields jump up 500% in strength. It's too bad that it only lasts for a couple hours at most but it'll do. Putting the armor piece back in place I make a few more mods, these ones prototypes so I'm hoping they work properly. I apply one to each elbow and knee. The last one, went into the chest of the armor, plugging into both the medi-gel delivery system and the power system. Almost immediately I feel a rush of chemicals enter my blood stream. I feel lighter and stronger than before, and things seem to move a little slower. I really hope this was a good idea. Probably not but the outcome should be sweet.

"Michael what the hell are you doing?" Allyson asks sounding pissed that I wasn't listening.

"What's that? Time's up?" I ask confusing the hell out of everyone while smirking behind my helmet. "Alright let's do this!"

I hit the play button on my Omni-tool and my helmet fills with the sound of "This Will Be the Day" by Jeff Williams. Then I vault over the cover faster than I ever have before.

"LEEEROOOY JEENKIINS!"

My sniper is off my back in a second and trained at the Geth up in the tower. Still in the air, I squeeze the trigger and its head explodes. Thumbing the collapsing button, I throw my sniper up and hit the ground rolling. I snap out my shotgun as I come out of the roll standing. My sniper falls into place on my back, attaching to the magnetic clip perfectly. I shoot forward, running at speeds I've never reached before and vault over the first of Geth landing behind them and pulling out my pistol too. I fire the shot gun and blow out the chest of a Geth shock trooper before firing several shots, point blank, into another Geth solider with my Paladin. They crumple to the ground lifelessly, but I've already moved on. Putting my pistol away, I press a button on my shotgun and it extends to the full size of a conventional shotgun. I begin spinning the gun around using it as a melee weapon while still firing it. The Geth have me encircled trying to take me out but I'm keeping them at bay with a combination of blows to the body with the gun and blowing then apart with shotgun blasts.

Hehe this reminds me of Haloid...moving on.

I see one throw a grenade at me and I do several backflips to get out of the way, and into cover. I start feeling the strain on my muscles that the chemicals are causing, but I push it to the back of my mind. I take a deep breath as the music filtering through my comms changes to "Red Like Roses." I shoot out of cover as the music picks up again in pace. I return my shotgun to its place at my lower back and snatch up a pistol from a fallen Geth as I run. In my other hand I pull out my own pistol and start tearing into the Geth in front of me. Several shots are flung away from me by my shields and I notice they're only down to 302%, plenty to go then. By the time I reach the last one both guns have overheated so I drop them and engage it in CQB. The first punch I throw snaps it's head to the side and it tries to throw a wild punch out hopping to catch me off guard. I bring up my right arm to catch the blow and throw another of my own to its chest denting its carapace. Unfortunately the force required to do so, generated by the motorized joint, shatters my left elbow and I can feel the bones in my forearm crack too. Biting back a scream I rip my knife free of its sheath and plunge it into the damn things head causing it to go limp. The knife drops from my hand and I drop to my knees screaming.

"God damn it that hurts!" I roar painfully.

Suddenly there's an explosion, followed by the crack of a sniper rifle. I glance up to see a rocket trooper fall from the cliff, minus its head.

"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!" Allie screamed at me, ripping her helmet off to glare at me. "WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING CHARGING LIKE THAT? AND HOW DID you manage to do all of that? It was kinda cool."

"Experimental armor mods," I grunt through gritted teeth. "They work pretty well, but they have a few bugs."

I motion to my shattered elbow, which is evident by my arm swaying uselessly at my side. Allyson goes from pissed to concerned in record time. I wave away her concerns and tell her the painkillers kicked in and already numbed the pain. The arm of my armor had also locked down to prevent it from moving.

"Allie I'm good to go," I announce, despite her worrying. "Let's continue, and don't worry about me. I don't think I'll be doing that again anytime soon."

She looks hesitant, but nods her head. She puts her helmet back in place and orders the other two out of cover. They walk over, shock displayed in their own separate ways. As we walk up the path carved into the cliff they question me.

"Keelah that was unreal!" Tali exclaims. "I've never seen anything like that. You picked those Geth apart so effortlessly. How was all of that even possible?"

"Are you some kind of super solider?" Garrus asks, curiously. "I didn't know humanity had such a program.

"Nothing like that, Garrus," I state. "Just some experimental armor mods I picked up at Arcturus Station before we took off in the Normandy for the test flight. I'm just a test subject. Except for a few major bugs, I'd say they were successful."

I wince as pain flares up in my legs, indicating the muscles had been damaged. I discreetly trigger the med-system and painkillers flood my system, targeting my legs. I sigh softly in relief as the pain disappears.

We reach the top of the cliff with little resistance and reach an entrance into a mining shaft. If I remember right we run into some major resis-

**BOOM!**

Yup, I was right. The Geth dropped an Armature damn near on top of us. We scatter, diving into cover only to begin taking fire from two very annoying Geth Hoppers. Allie and I hit them with a Biotic Pull, causing then to float helplessly. They were quickly turned to scrap metal by the combined efforts of Tali and Garrus.

A large explosion rocks us all almost knocking us over. The Armature hasn't forgotten us. It continues riddling the crates with machine gun fire as it warms up another siege pulse.

"We need a way to take that son of a bitch out," Allie says over the radio.

"Have Joker take it out," I suggest jokingly.

The only sound for the next few seconds is gun fire before Allie puts her face in her hand and I hear Tali and Garrus chuckle over the comms.

"Joker, I need a bombardment on these coordinates," Allie orders, sending the information via her Omni-tool.

"Coming right up, Commander," replies the pilot, grin evident in his voice.

There was a few moments of silence before the area around the Armature goes up in a cloud of dust and fire and the air fills with the screech of tearing metal. A shockwave rushed from the impact zone and pushes back the crates we were hiding behind. When the dust cleared there was a crater where the large Geth had been and metal was strewn across the ground.

"Damn...that was effective," I state, completely shocked.

"Uh Joker, target neutralized," Allie announced.

"That's an understatement," Garrus chuckles.

Tali just nods her head, too flabbergasted to speak. We pick our way through the rumble towards the ramp, which surprisingly was still intact, if not a little dusty. Huh, pretty sound structure.

We make our way down into the mines, and I notice a stark contrast between my memory and reality. In the game everything was bright and well lit. You could easily see everything. Reality? Well it turned out to be really different. Dim lights hung from the ceiling throwing shadows around the entrance shaft. The silence was suffocating and seemed to amplify every shuffle of armor and foot step. If I had to compare it to anything I remember from my universe, the first thing to pop in my mind is the Ishimura. The thought makes me shudder. I have to look up Dead Space to make sure it exists here. The last thing I want is for there to be a possibility of necromorphs.

The electronic garble of Geth speech rips shatters the silence startling me, making my vitals spike wildly. We exit the into the heart of the mine, and immediately are set upon by the Geth we heard. The roar of gunfire ricocheted off the walls creating a deafening din as we tore into them.

"Well...everything knows that we're here now," Garrus states simply, after the last one falls.

"Meh, surprise is overrated anyways," Allie replies with a shrug. "In a related note, activate flashlights guys. Visibility sucks ass in here."

"Aye, aye Shepard," the rest of us reply.

...Then of course she slugs me in my bad arm, causing me to hiss in pain.

"I've told you before! You don't call me that," she huffs. "It sounds weird coming from you."

"Gotcha Shep-" I chuckle, only to back track at her growl. "I mean Allie. Gotcha Allie."

She nods in satisfaction, shoulders her gun, and continues forward. I shake my head and do the same. I hear the impression of a whip followed by chuckling behind me and glare at the ground.

"Shut up Garrus."

"That actually was Tali."

Great, the timid Quarian is calling me whipped. Life is great.

XXXXX

2:10 pm EST

Therum, Prothean Ruins

So after two nerve racking rides in run down elevators, one of which came to a screeching, shuddering halt with us in it, we reach a shimmering blue energy field that appears to be the only source of bright light within the ruins.

"Hello? Is-is someone out there? Can you help me?" calls a voice from behind the curtain of energy.

"Doctor Liara Tsoni?" I inquire, though I'm smiling behind my helmet.

"Y-yes. May I ask who you are?" She asks nervously.

"Lieutenant Michael Barnes, Systems Alliance Marines," I reply.

"Commander Allyson Shepard, also Alliance," Allie answers. "We also happen to be Spectres if that matters at all to you."

My hand meets my face as I groan internally at her boasting. However it seems to calm down down Liara, as she stops struggling against the orb of energy keeping her suspended in mid-air.

"Oh thank the goddess!" she exclaims. "Can you get me out of here?"

"There's some kind of energy field in the way," Allie mutters, before surprising me by grabbing my arm and pushing me into it causing me to fly backwards. "Yup just as I thought, a repulsion field."

"What the hell would you have done if it was a laser curtain?" I groan.

"Apologize," she replies sweetly while shrugging her shoulders.

I shake my head, and stand up hissing because by broken elbow acts up. I guess I deserved that one.

"So Doctor, what should we do?" I ask Liara.

"This thing I'm trapped in is some kind of Prothean security device," she explains. "I cannot move, so I need you to get me out of here. When the Geth arrived, I activated the security system. I must have hit something I was not supposed to. I've been trapped in here for a couple days now. You must get me out, please!"

"We'll find some way to get you out. Just stay calm," Allie states soothingly.

Liara takes a deep breath and nods. "There's a panel in here that should deactivate this thing. The hard part is getting by the barrier cart. To deactivate everything you must get past it, but there is no control on the outside.

"Be careful. There is a Krogan with the Geth," she warns as an after thought. "They've been trying to find a way to get past the barrier curtain."

Allie nods and orders us to head out. We continue down the broken, uneven ramp down to the lower level. As we move away from the barrier curtain, the visability decreases again.

"Don't these helmets have night vision?" I ask everyone.

For a second more there's silence, before I hear Allie grumbling about being stupid again, and forgetting obvious things.

"Okay I'll take that as a yes," I chuckle. "Let's go ahead and activate night vision guys. That way we can't get bum rushed by Geth."

The night vision turns on with a whir, turning everything green, and reveals an unsettling sight.

"Uhh Lieutenant, what was that you were saying about Geth?" Garrus asks rhetorically.

The night vision reveals a few dozen Geth several yards away. It seemed like they hadn't noticed us yet, or they were inactive as their lights were off.

"Keelah," Tali gasps, taking a step back.

This turns out to be a mistake, as she kicks a pebble into a metal container. In an instant the Geth deactivate and snap there weapons towards us. We

all dive into cover as the Geth open fire on us.

"It's official, I hate darkness!" I yell over the gunfire.

"Less complaining and more levitating!" Allie orders.

We both send out pulses of dark energy lifting a large group of Geth soldiers that soon explode when we all send out Overloads into their midsts followed by grenades. We were then forced back into cover by the combined firepower of the remaining Geth. The pulse rounds pounded into the crates continuously, causing them to start to heat up to melting point.

"So I was thinking giving them the Special, what do ya think?" I ask Allie.

"Do it," she orders. "Then you and I will Charge in behind. Garrus, Tali, you two keep the pressure up on this side once we Charge."

"Sure thing Shepard," Garrus replies with a nod.

"What's this 'special' the Lieutenant was talking about?" Tali asks.

"Allow me to show you dear Tali," I smirk.

Flaring my barrier I stand up and extend my hands. A biotic dome snaps into exsistance. Then without pause, I slam my hands together sending the dome forward as a surging wall of dark energy. Then I spread my fingers and the wall turns it to dozens of separate blasts of energy. They impact against the group of Shock Troopers mangling a few of them and knocking over the rest. This was the cue for Allie and I to Charge biotically behind all of the downed Geth. We come out of the charge in an explosion of dark energy. As we back up towards cover we start putting bullets in the prone forms of the Geth on the ground before they can stand.

With the team now on either side of the Geth, we quickly tear them apart, lighting up the mine briefly with gunfire and explosions. We checked the area to make sure we were alone.

"Perimeter secure," Garrus announces.

"Yeah, yeah Garrus that's nice," Allie says not paying attention. "Look what I found!"

We looked at her to see that she was standing next to a gigantic mining laser. Oh great, she looks too excited for this to end well.

"We can use this to get past that energy field!" she exclaimed "Allie this planet is volcanic. Activating it might cause a seis-"

VVVSSSHHHHH!

Ignoring me, she activated the laser, blasting apart the ground and revealing a portion of the ruins that didn't have a barrier curtain.

"Ha! See, look at that! It worked!" she chirps happily.

"Come on Allie you're falling behind!" I called from the newly carved path, following behind Garrus and Tali, who were apparently in a rush to get out of the mine.

She came jogging up behind us as we walked into this brightly lit tiled room- We were forced to turn off our night vision as we entered said room as to not blind ourselves. The room had no back wall and exited out onto a huge area that must've extended from the top floor to many many miles below us as I could not see the bottom. A metal platform with a Prothean looking control panel was before us as we entered the room. Without realizing what I was doing, I somehow managed to bring up a hologram-like interface. I punched in a command and the elevator rapidly began to rise.

"Ya know, the galaxy would really benefit from this aspect of Prothean technology," I comment absentmindedly.

"I'm already downloading the schematics," Tali deadpans, as she fiddles with her Omni-tool.

"This is a good thing," Allie mutters. "I hate slow elevators."

"Uhh are you going to help me out of here?"

We whirl around to see that we reached the level where Liara was trapped. Wow that was faster than we thought. Allie walked into the room and up to the control panel. For a moment she seemed to zone out as she activated the security console. A moment later Liara is dropped unceremoniously to the ground. She stands up brushing dust off of her clothes and winces as she rubs her ass. Guess the floor is as unforgiving as it seems.

"How did you get you get in?" She asked in amazement. "I didn't think there was any way past the barrier."

"I blasted my way through with a mining laser," Allie replies with a smile.

"Ah yes that would do it. Now let us leave before more Geth arrive."

"Hold up there Shepard," Garrus says putting up a talon. "How do we know she's on our side. Her mother is with Saren."

"I am NOT my mother!" Liara snarls. "I don't know why my mother is with Saren. I don't want anything to do with that Turian bastard."

"I believe her," I tell Garrus. "If she was with Saren, the Geth wouldn't be trying to kill her."

With all of us on the elevator platform, I start trying to figure out how to get it moving again.

"Why would the Geth come after me?" Liara wondered aloud. "Do you think Benezia was involved?"

"Well you're a Prothean expert right?" Tali asks. "Maybe Saren wants you to help him find the Conduit."

"The Conduit?" Liara questions, confused. "But I don't know what-"

Suddenly the entire mine shakes and there's a deep rumble. Rocks begin falling from the ceiling and the walls as the ruins around us begin to crumble.

"Uh, what the hell was that?" Garrus ask, sounding like he wasn't going to like the answer.

"These ruins were never very stable to begin with," Liara explains looking nervously upwards. "That laser must've triggered a seismic event."

The rest of us look at Allie who's rocking back and forth, kicking one of her feet while looking at the ground. She looks up at us and shrugs weakly.

"Hehe, oopsies," she chuckles softly.

I shake my head in exasperation as I finally manage to get the elevator going. A really large tremor rips through the area throwing us to the floor of the platform.

"Jesus fuck, we need to get out of here!" I yell, trying to be heard above the cacophony of collapsing ruins.

"Joker, get the Normandy airborne and locked on my signal! On the double mister!" Allie orders tersely.

"Aye aye Commander, secure and away," Joker announces, coming in through all of our comms. "ETA is eight minutes.

"He needs to move faster!" Tali exclaims sounding panicked, not that I blamed her.

"If I die in here, I'll kill him," I mutter, stealing Wrex's line.

The platform rose way faster than what should have been safe under these conditions, though I wasn't about to complain. I wanted out of here and I was sick of slow elevators. We reach the top and are greeted by a Krogan and five Geth solider, including a rocket solider.

"Surrender, or don't," the Krogan says with a deep rumbling chuckle.

Hmm it seems like a good time for a renegade choice. I Charge up to him, blasting away the Geth, coming out of the Charge with my knife lodged under his headplate already.

"I choose or not," I hiss, twisting the knife and wrenching it upwards and popping off the plate.

He dropped down screaming only for me to blow off his head with my shotgun. I shot the body three more times to ensure he was dead. Then I pulled out my pistol and unloaded into the rocket trooper clip a missile and exploding it. I was blown back into a stack of crates and everything went fuzzy. My vision cleared as I was yanked to my feet by Allie who was yelling at me to move my ass. We started booking it, stumbling as the tremors got worse. In fact lava started coming from the walls. God damn lava!

Fuck this man I'm out!

I push myself to go faster even though my already strained leg muscles are screaming in protest. Ahead of me Liara stumbles and instead of stopping to help I just scoop her off her feet ignoring the screaming pain from my broken arm.

"Ello there, Doctor," I say in a British accent. "Let's go for a run, you clever girl."

I start charging up the entrance shaft carrying her bridal style, and notice that I managed to make her blush. Oh dear lord, I'm going to regret trying to be witty aren't I?

We reach the outdoors as the Normandy drops from the sky, cargo bay door open. We all charge into the ship and Joker pulls us away as large jets of lava shot into the air. The door closes with a hiss and we all collapse to the ground.

"Well it's no TARDIS, but it'll do Doctor," I tell Liara, still using a British accent.

I hear Allie bust out laughing as we all walk to the elevator. We pile in and head up to the mess hall. From there we head up to the comm room where Allyson calls the rest of the members of the ground team up for a team meeting. Once everyone has taken a seat we start the debriefing.

"So except for a brief snag at the end, I'd say the mission was a success," Allie chirps gleefully.

"Too close Commander," Joker comments through the comms. "Ten more seconds, and we would've been swimming in molten sulfur. The Normandy isn't equipped to land in exploding volcanoes. They tend to fry our sensors and melt our hull. Just for future reference."

"We almost died and your pilot is making jokes?" Liara asks aghast.

"Joker literally just pulled our asses out of the fire back there," Allyson comments. "I'd say he's entitled to a few lame jokes. You'll get used to it."

"I see, it must be a human thing," Liara replies thoughtfully. "I don't have much experience with your species, Commander. I am grateful to you. You saved my life back there, and not just from the volcano. Those Geth would have killed me or dragged me off to Saren."

"What did Saren want with you?" Kaidan inquires. "Do you know something about this Catalyst thing he's after?"

"I only know that it was somehow connected with the extinction of the Protheans," the Doctor replies. "That is my real area of expertise. I have spent the last fifty years trying to figure out what happened to them."

"How old are you exactly?" Allie blurts out, which causes me to put my face in my hand and shake my head.

"I hate to admit it, but I am only 106," Liara replies sheepishly.

"Damn," Ashley laughs. "I hope I look that good at 106."

Here I start tuning out as the pain in my body steadily gets worse and worse. I struggle against the darkness creeping into my vision. I really hope this meeting ends...crap how am I supposed to protect my thoughts against Liara's mind-meld? Oh wait that doesn't happen yet. Stupid faulty memory.

"Michael!" Allyson barks, shaking me from my thoughts. "Are you okay? You look a little pale."

"Yeah I'm good. I just zoned out is all," I answer, keeping the pain from my voice. "What did I miss?"

"Liara was just telling us that the reason the beacons vision was so jumbled was because the beacons are made to interact with Prothean physiology," Allie states.

"Yes, that is right," Liara affirms. "I am amazed either of you were able to understand any of what was on the beacon. A lesser mind would have been destroyed. You both must be remarkably strong willed."

"Be that as it may," I state before either Ashley or Kaidan can be asses. "This really doesn't get us closer to Saren or the Conduit."

"Of course you are right," Liara agrees. "I apologize, my scientific curiosity got the better of me. Unfortunately I do not have any knowledge that could lead you to the the Conduit, or Saren."

"Well I don't know why Saren wanted you, but I think we'll be a lot better off if we bring you along," Allyson comments.

"Thank you Commander, you- oh Lieutenant are you okay?"

I hardly hear the question as the pain in my body explodes and the darkness at the edges of my vision rushes in to obscure it completely. The last things I see and hear are the floor rushing up to meet me and Allyson ordering Dr. Chakwas to prepare the medbay.

* * *

**And there we have it ladies and gentlemen, Therum. Now before you go slamming me and burning me with your words about how I made Shepard out to be too emotional or that my Shepard is weak, please keep in mind that I'm trying to show that she's human. And after the shit she's been through a normal person would be a complete wreck, so she's entitled to being emotional now and then. Anywho, I hope you enjoyed chapter ten, and as always review, point out mistakes, don't preach to me about Enkindlers, and have an awesome couple of weeks. Bye!**


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